A  SCHOOL  HISTORY 


OF  THE 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA 


• 

FROM  1619  TO  1890, 


WITH  A  SHORT  INTRODUCTION 


AS  TO 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  RACE; 


ALSO  A 


SHORT  SKETCH  OF  LIBERIA, 


BY 


EDWARD  A.  |OHNSONMLL.B., 

Principal  of  the  Washington  School,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 


REVISED  EDITION. 
1893. 


W.  b.  CONKCV  COMPANY,  PRINTCAS  AND 


JOAN  STACK' 

From 
Colonization  Society 

May  28,  1913. 


Copyright.  1891, 

BY  EDWARD  A.  JOHNSON,  LL.6., 
Raleigh,  N.  C. 


Reproduced  by 

: 

. 

DUOPAGE  PROCESS 

.in  the 
U.S.  of  America 


i  rnicRQ  PHOTO  Division  L 

!   1700  SHAW  AVE.  CLEVELAND.  OHIO  44112 


[5]  BELLeHOUJELL 

Ln...  nd 


i 


DP     14282 


• 


PREFACE. 



To  the   many  thousand  colored    teachers  in  our 
v  country  this  book  is  dedicated.     During  my  experi 

ence  of  eleven  y'ears  as  a  teacher* I  have-  often  felt 
^          that  the  children  of  the   race  -ought  to  study  some 

work  that  would  oive  them  a  little  information  on 
^** 

the  many  brave  deeds  and  noble  characters  of  their 

own  race.  I  have  often  observed  the  sin  of  omission 
and  commission  on  the  part  of  white  authors,  most' 
of  whom  seem  to  have  written  exclusively  for  white 
children,  and  studiously  left  out  the  .many  creditable 
deeds  of  the  Negro.  The  general  tone  of  most  of 
the  histories  taught  in  our  schools  has  been  that  of 
,-..  the  inferiority  of  the  Negro,  whether  actually  said 
in  so  many  words,  or  left  to  be  implied  from  the 
highest  laudation  of  the  deeds  of  one  race  to  the 
complete  exclusion  of  those  of  the  other.  It  must, 
indeed,  be  a  stimulus  to  any  people  to  be  able  to 
refer  to  their  ancestors  as  distinguished  in  deeds  of 
valor,  and  peculiarly  so  to  the  colored  people.  But 
how  must  the  little  colored  child  feel  when  he  has 
completed  the  assigned  course  of  U.  S.  History  and 
in  it  found  not  one  word  of  credit,  not  one  word  of 


IV  PREFACE. 


favorable  comment  for  even  one  among  the  millions 
of  his  foreparents,  who  have  lived  through  nearly 
three  centuries  of  his  country's  history !  The  Negro 
is  hardly  given  a  passing  notice  in  many  of  the  his 
tories  taught  in  the  schools ;  he  is  credited  with  no 
heritage  of  valor ;  he  is  mentioned  only  as  a  slave, 
while  true  historical  records  prove  him  to  have  been 
among  the  most  patriotic  of  patriots,  among  the 
bravest  of  soldiers,  and  constantly  a  God-fearing, 
faithful  producer  of  the  nation's  wealth.  Though 
a  slave  to  this  government,  his  was  the  first  blood 
shed  in  its  defence  in  those  days  when  a  foreign  foe 
threatened  its  destruction.  In  each  of  the  American 
wars  the  Negro  was  faithful — yes,  faithful  to  a  land 
not  his  own  in  point  of  rights  and  freedom,  but,  in 
deed,  a  land  that,  after  he  had  shouldered  his  mus 
ket  to  defend,  rewarded  him  with  a  renewed  term 
of  slavery.  Patriotism  and  valor  under  such  cir 
cumstances  possess  a  peculiar  merit  and  beauty.  But 
such  is  the  truth  of  history ;  and  may  I  not  hope  that 
the  study  of  this  little  work  by  the  boys  and  girls  of  . 
the  race  will  inspire  in  them  a  new  self-respect  and 
confidence  ?  Much,  of  course,  will  depend  on  you, 
dear  teachers,  into  whose  hands  I  hope  to  place  this 
book.  By  your  efforts,  and  those  of  the  children, 
you  are  to  teach  from  the  truth  of  history  that  com 
plexions  do  not  govern  patriotism,  valor,  and  sterling 
integrity. 


PREFACE. 


My  endeavor  has  been  to  shorten  this  work  as 
much  as  I  thought  consistent  with  clearness.  Per 
sonal  opinions  and  comments  have  been  kept  out. 
A  fair  impartial  statement  has  been  my  aim.  Facts 
are  what  I  have  tried  to  give  without  bias  or  preju 
dice  ;  and  may  not  something  herein  said  hasten  on 
that  day  when  the  race  for  which  these  facts  are 
written,  following  the  example  of  the  noble  men  and 
women  who  have  gone  before,  level  themselves  up 
to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  all  that  is  noble  in  human 
nature? 

I  respectfully  request  that  my  fellow-teachers  will 
see  to  it  that  the  word  Negro  is  written  with  a 
capital  N.  It  deserves  to  be  so  enlarged,  and  will 
help,  perhaps,  to  magnify  the  race  it  stands  for  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  see  it. 

E.  A.  J. 


CONTENTS. 


PACK 
CHAPTER 

I.  Introduction, 9 

II.  Beginning  of  Slavery  in  the  Colonies,     .        .17 

III.  The  New  York  Colony, 23 

IV.  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut,       25 
V.  New  Hampshire  and  Maryland,  .        .      34 

VI.  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania,             ...  40 

VII.  North  Carolina,       .        .        .        •        •  4* 

VIII.  South  Carolina,       ,                          ..."  44 

IX.  Georgia, •        •  4<> 

X.  Habits  and  Customs  of  the  Southern  Colonies,  53 

XL  Negro  Soldiers  in  Revolutionary  Times,  .        .  56 

XII.  Negro  Heroes  of  the  Revolution,    .                .  63 

XIII.  The  War  of  1812,  ....••  74 

XIV.  Efforts  for  Freedom,                 ....  So 
XV.  Frederick  Douglass, 84 

XVI.     Liberia,  .  •  ...      88 

XVII.     Nat.  Turner  and  Others  who  Struck  for  Free 
dom,    .  .        .        .      90 
XVIII.     Anti-Slavery  Agitation,    .        '.     '  .         •        •       98 
XIX.     Examples  of  Underground  Railroad  Work,      .    101 
Slave  Population  of  1860,        .  ,     •        •        .102 

(  vii) 


Vlil  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXI.  The  War  of  the  Rebellion,      .  „    .        .        .103 

XXII.  Employment  of  Negro  Soldiers,      .       V'      •     109 

XXIII.  Fort  Pillow, .118 

XXIV.  Around  Petersburg,          .        .        .        .        .122 
XXV.  The  Crater,     .        .        .        .        .        .        .126 

XXVI.     Incidents  of  the  War, 131 

XXVII.  The  End  of  the  War,      .        .        .        ...     135 

XXVIII.  Reconstruction — 1865-68,       .         .        .         .138 
• 

XXIX.     Progress  Since  Freedom,          142 

XXX.     Religious  Progress, 146 

XXXI.  Educational  Progress,      .        .        .        .        .156 

XXXII.  Financial  Progress,           .        .        .        ,        .162 

XXXIII.  Some  Noted  Negroes,      .        .        .        .        .167 

XXXIV.  Free  People  of  Color  in  North  Carolina,         .     190 
XXXV.     Conclusion, 196 

Index,     .        .'        .        .        .        .        .        .     197 


SCHOOL  HISTORY 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

- 

INTRODUCTION. 

The  Origin  of  the  Negro  is  definitely  known. 
Some  very  wise  men,  writing  to  suit  prejudiced 
.  readers,  have  endeavored  to  assign  the  race  to  a 
separate  creation  and  deny  its  kindred  with  Adam 
and  Eve.  But  historical  records  prove  the  Negro  as 
ancient  as  the  most  ancient  races — for  5000  years 
into  the  dim  past  mention  is  made  of  the  Negro  race. 
Tlie  pyramids  of  Egypt,  the  great  temples  on  the  Nile, 
were  either  built  by  Negroes  or  people  closely  related 
to  them.  All  the  science  and  learning  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome  was,  probably,  once  in  the  hands  of 
the  foreparents  of  the  American  slaves.  They  are, 
then,  descendants  of  a  race  of  people  once  the  most 
powerful  on  earth,  the  race  of  the  Pharaohs.  His 
tory,  traced  from  the  flood,  makes  the  three  sons  of 
Noah,  Ham,  Shem,  and  Japheth,  the  progenitors  of 
the  three  primitive  races  of  the  earth— the  Mongo- 


10  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

lian,  descended  from  Shem  and  settled  in  Southern 
and  Eastern  Asia ;  the  Caucasian,  descended  from 
Japheth  and  settled  in  Europe ;  the  Ethiopian,  de 
scended  from  Ham  and  settled  in  Africa  and  adja 
cent  countries.  From  Ham  undoubtedly  sprung  the 
Egyptians  who,  in  honor  of  Ham,  their  great  head, 
named  their  principal  god  Hammon  or  Ammon. 

Ham  was  the  father  of  Canaan,  from  whom  de 
scended  the  powerful  Canaanites  so  troublesome  to 
the  Jews.  Cus/i,  the  oldest  son  of  Ham,  was  the 
•  father  of  Nimrod,  "  the  mighty  one  in  the  earth  " 
and  founder  of  the  Babylonian  Empire.  Nimrod's 
son  built  the  unrivalled  City  of  Nineveh  in  the  pic- 
•turesque  valley  of  the  Tigris.  Unless  the  Bible 
statement  be  false  that  "  God  created  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth" 
and  the  best  historians  have  erred,  then  the  origin 
of  the  Negro  is  high  enough  to  merit  his  proudest 
boasts  of  the  past,  and  arouse  his  grandest  hopes 
for  the  future. 

The  Present  Condition  of  the  African  is  the  re 
sult  of  the  fall  of  the  Egyptian  empire,  which  was  in 
accord  with  the  Bible  prophecy  of  all  nations  who 
forgot  God  and  worshipped  idols.  That  the  Afri 
cans  were  once  a  great  people  is  shown  by  their 
natural  love  for  the  fine  arts.  They  are  poetic  by 
nature,  and  national  airs  sung  long  ago  by  exploring 
parties  in  Central  Africa  are  still  held  by  them,  an4 


NEC  RO  RA  CE  IX  <  \MERWA .  1 1 

• 

- 

•  strike  the  ears  of  more  modern  travellers  with  joy 
and  surprise. 

Ancient  Cities  Discovered  in  the  very  heart  of 
Africa,  having  well  laid  off  streets,  improved  wharfs, 
and  conveniences  for  trade,  connect  these  people 
with  a  better  condition  in  the  past  than  now.  While 
many  of  the  native  Africans  are  desperately  savage, 
yet  in  their  poor,  degraded  condition  it  is  the  unani 
mous  testimony  of  missionaries  and  explorers  that 
many  of  these  people  have  good  judgment,  some 
tribes  have  written  languages,  and  show  skill  in 
weaving  cloth,  smelting  and  refining  gold  and  iron 
and  making  implements  of  war. 

Their  Wonderful  regard  for  truth  and  virtue  is 
surprising,  and  fixes  a  great  gulf  between  them  and 
other  savage  peoples.  They  learn  rapidly,  and,  un 
fortunately,  it  is  too  often  the  case  that  evil  teaching 
is  given  them  by  the  vile  traders  who  frequent  their 
country  with  an  abundance  of  rum,  mouths  full  of 
curses,  and  the  worst  of  bad  English. 

Long  Years  Spent  in  the  most  debilitating  cli 
mate  on  earth  and  violation  of  divine  law,  made  the 
African  what  he  was  when  the  slave  trade  com 
menced  in  the  i6th  century.  But  his  condition  was 
not  so  bad  that  he  could  not  be  made  a  good  citizen. 
Nay,  he  was  superior  to  the  ancient  savage  Briton 
whom  Caesar  found  in  England  and  described  as  un 
fitted  to  make  respectable  slaves  of  in  the  Roman 


12  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY \OF  THE 

• 

Empire.  The  Briton  has  had  eighteen  centuries  to 
be  what  he  is,  the  Negro  has  had  really -but  twenty- 
five  years.  Let  us  weigh  his  progress  in  just  bal 
ances. 

SOME   QUOTATIONS    FROM    LEADING    WRITERS   ON 
THE    NEGRO. 

"  The  Sphinx  may  have  been  the  shrine  of  the 
Negro  population  of  Egypt,  who,  as  a  people,  were 
unquestionably  under  our  average  size.'  Three  mil 
lion  Buddhists  in  Asia  represent  their  chief  deity, 
Buddha,  with  Negro  features  and  hair.  There  are 
two  other  images  of  Buddha,  one  at  Ceylon  and  the 
other  at  Calanse,  of  which  Lieutenant  Ma'honey 
says :  '  Both  these  statues  agree  in  having  crisped 
hair  and  long,  pendant  ear-rings/  " — Morton. 

"  The  African  is  a  man  with  every  attribute  of 
humankind.  Centuries  of  barbarism  have  had  the 
same  hurtful  effects  on  Africans  as  Pritchard  de 
scribes  them  to  have  had  on  certain  of  the  Irish  who 
were  driven,  some  generations  back,  to  the  hills  in 
Ulster  and  Connaught" — the  moral  and  physical 
effects  are  the  same. 

"  Ethnologists  reckon  the  African  as  by  no  means 
the  lowest,  of  the  human  family.  He  is  nearly  as 
strong  physically  as  the  European;  and,  as  a  race, 
is  wonderfully  persistent  among  the  nations  of  the 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  13 

• 

earth.  Neither  the  diseases  nor  the  ardent  spirits 
which  proved  so  fatal  to  the  North  American 
Indians,  the  South  Sea  Islanders  and  Australians, 
seem  capable  of  annihilating  the  Negroes.  They 
are  gifted  with  physical  strength  capable  of  with 
standing  the  severest  privations.  Many  would 
pine  away  in  a  state  of  slavery.  No  Krooman  can 
be  converted  into  a  slave,  and  yet  he  is  an  inhabit 
ant  of  the  low,  unhealthy  west  coast;  nor  can  any 
of  the  Zulu  or  Kaffir  tribe  be  reduced  to  bondage, 
though  all  these  live  in  comparatively  elevated 
regions.  We  have  heard  it  stated  by  men  familiar 
with  some  of  the  Kaffirs,  that  a  blow  given,  even 
in  play,  by  a  European,  must  be  returned.  A  love 
of  liberty  is  observable  in  all  who  have  the  Zulu 
blood,  as  the  Makololo,  the  Watuta.  But  blood 
does  not  explain  the  fact.  A  beautiful  Barotse 
woman  at  Naliele,  on  refusing  to  marry  a  man 
whom  she  did  not  like,  was,  in  a  pet,  given  by  the 
headman  to  some  Mambari  slave  traders  from  Ben- 
guela.  Seeing  her  fate,  she  seized  one  of  their 
spears,  and,  stabbing  herself,  fell  dead.'1 — Living 
stones  Works. 

"  In  ancient  times  the  blacks  were  known  to  be 
so  gentle  to  strangers  that  many  believed  that  the 
gods  sprang  from  them.  Homer  sings  of  the  ocean, 
father  of  the  gods,  and  says  that  when  Jupiter 
wishes  to  take  a  holiday,  he  visits  the  sea,  and  goes 


14  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

to  the  banquets  of  the  blacks — a  people  humble, 
courteous  and  devout/' 

THE  CURSE  OF  NOAH   WAS   NOT  DIVINE! 

The  following  passage  of  Scripture  has  been  much  quoted  as  an  argument 
to  prove  the  inferiority  of  the  Negro  race.  The  Devil  can  quote  Scripture, 
but  not  always  correctly :  "  And  Noah  began  to  be  an  husbandman,  and  he 
planted  a  vineyard :  and  he  drank  of  the  wine,  and  was  drunken  and  was 
uncovered  in  his  tent,  and  Ham,  the  father  of  Canaan,  saw  the  nakedness  of 
his  father,  and  told  his  two  brethren  without,  and  Shem  and  Japheth  took  a 
garment  and  laid  it  upon  both  their  shoulders,  and  went  backward  and  cov 
ered  the  nakedness  of  their  father;  and  their  faces  were  backward,  and  they 
saw  not  their  father's  nakedness,  and  Noah  awoke  from  his  wine,  and  knew 
what  his  younger  son  had  done  unto  him,  and  he  said,  Cursed  be  Canaan;  a 
servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren.  And  he  said  :  Blessed  be 
the  Lord  God  of  Shem,  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant.  God  shall  enlarge 
Japheth,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem,  and  Canaan  shall  be  his 
servant." 

After  the  flood  Noah's  mission  as  a  preacher  to  the  people  was  over.  He 
so  recognized  it  himself,  and  settled  himself  down  with  his  family  on  a  vine 
yard.  He  got  drunk  of  the  wine  he  made,  and  disgracefully  lay  in  naked 
ness;  on  awaking  from  his  drunken  stupor,  and  learning  of  Ham's  acts,  he, 
in  rage,  speaks  his  feelings  to  Canaan,  Ham's  son.  He  was  in  bad  temper  at 
,  this  time,  and  spoke  as  one  in  such  a  temper  in  those  times  naturally  would 
speak.  To  say  he  was  uttering  God's  will  would  be  a  monstrosity — would  be 
to  drag  the  sacred  words  of  prophecy  through  profane  lips,  and  make  God 
speak  his  will  to  men  out  of  the  mouth  of  a  drunkard,  of  whom  the  Holy 
Writ  says  none  can  enter  the  kingdom.  A  drunken  prophet  strikes  the  mind 
with  ridicule !  Yet,  such  was  Noah,  if  at  all,  and  such  the  character  of  that 
prophet  whom  biased  minds  have  chosen  as  the  expounder  of  a  curse  on  the 
Negro  race.  It  is  not  strange  that  so  few  people  have  championed  the  curse 
theory  of  the  race,  when  we  think  that  in  so  doing  they  must  at  the  same 
time  endorse  Noah's  drunkenness. 

But,  aside  from  this,  the  so-called  prophecy  of  Noah  has  not  become  true. 
The  best  evidence  of  a  prophecy  is  its  fulfillment.  Canaan's  descendants 
have  often  conquered,  though  Noah  said  they  would  not.  Goodrich  makes 
the  Canaanites,  so  powerful  in  the  fortified  cities  of  Ai  and  Jericho,  the  direct 


XEGRO  RA  CE  IN  A  M  ERIC  A.  1 5 

descendants  of  Canaan.  They  were  among  the  most  powerful  people  of 
olden  times.  They  and  their  kindred  built  up  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  the  mother 
of  the  alphabet,  and  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  the  two  most  wonderful  of  ancient 
cities.  The  Jews,  God's  chosen  people,  were  enslaved  by  the  kindred  of 
Canaan  both  in  Egypt  and  Babylon.  Melchizeclek  (King  of  Righteousness), 
a  sacred  character  of  the  Old  Testament,  was  a  Canaanitc.  So,  rather  than 
being  a  race  of  slaves,  as  Noah  predicted,  the  Canaanitish  people  have  been 
the  greatest  people  of  the  earth.  The  great  nations  of  antiquity  were  in  and 
around  Eastern  Africa  and  Western  Asia,  in  which  is  located  Mount  Ararat, 
supposed  to  be  the  spot  on  which  the  ark  rested  after  the  flood.  These  natior.r, 
sprang  from  the  four  sons  of  Ham — Cush,  Mizarim,  Phut  and  Canaan.  The 
Cushites  were  Ethiopians,  who  lived  in  Abyssinia.  The  Mizarimites  were 
Egyptians,  who  lived  in  Egypt,  and  so  distinguished  for  greatness.  The  Ca- 
naanites  occupied  the  country  including  Tyre  and  Sidon  and  stretching  down 
into  Arabia  as  far  as  Gaza  and  including  the  province  of  the  renowned  Queen, 
of  Sheba. 

In  the  light  of  true  history  the  curse  theory  of  the  Negro  melts  like  snow 
under  a  summer's  sun.  We  contend,  from  the  above  facts,  that  Noah  did 
not  utter  a  prophecy  when  he  spoke  to  Canaan,  and  as  proof  of  that  fact  we 
have  quoted  some  historical  data  to  show  that  if  he  did  make  such  a  prophecy 
it  was  not  fulfilled.  We  will  add,  further,  that  the  part  of  the  alleged  prophecy 
conferring  blessings  on  Shcm  and  Japhelh  has  also  fallen  without  verification, 
in  that  the  descendants  of  these  two  personages  have  more  than  once  been 
enslaved. 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  r\  this  age  of  enlightenment  to  refer  to  the  Curse 
Theory  argued  so  persistently  by  those  who  needed  some  such  argument  as 
an  apology  for  wrong-doing,  but  still  there  are  some  who  yet  believe  in  it, 
having  never  cut  loose  from  the  moorings  of  blind  prejudice.  The  Color 
Theory  was  also  quite  popular  formerly  as  an  argument  in  support  of  the 
curse  of  Noah.  We  hold  that  the  color  of  the  race  is  due  to  climatic  influ 
ences,  and  in  support  of  this  view  read  this  quotation  in  reference  to  Africa : 
il  As  we  go  westward  we  observe  the  light  color  predominating  over  the  dark ; 
and  then,  again,  when  we  come  within  the  influence  of  the  damp  from  the 
sea  air,  we  find  the  shade  deepened  into  the  general  blackness  of  the  coast 
population. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  the  Biseagan  women  are  shining  white,  the  inhab 
itants  of  Granada,  on  the  contrary,  dark,  to  such  an  extent  that  in  this  region 
(West  Europe)  the  pictures  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  other  saints  are  painted 
of  the  same  color." 


16 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  TJTE 


*>laek  is  no  mark  of  reproach  to  people  who  do  not  worship  white.  The 
West  Indians  in  the  interior  represent  the  devil  as  white.  The  American 
Indians  make  fun  of  the  "  pale  face,'1  and  so  does  the  native  African.  People 
in  this  country  have  been  educated  to  believe  in  white  because  all  that  is 
good  has  been  ascribed  to  the  white  race  both  in  pictures  and  words.  God, 
the  angels  and  all  the  prophets  are  pictured  white  and  the  Devil  is  represented 
as  black. 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  17 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  SLAVERY  IN  THE 
COLONIES. 

The  first  Negroes  landed  at  Jamestown,  Va. 
'  In  the  year  1619,  a  Dutch  trading  vessel,  being  in 
need  of  supplies,  weighed  anchor  at  Jamestown,  and 
exchanged  fourteen  Negroes  for  food  and  supplies. 
The  Jamestown  people  made  slaves  of  these  four 
teen  Negroes,  but  did  not  pass  any  law  to  that  effect 
until  the  year  1662,  when  the  number  of  slaves  in 
the  colony  was  then  nearly  2000,  most  of  whom 
had  been  imported  from  Africa. 

How  They  were  Employed.  The  Jamestown 
colony  early  discovered  the  profits  of  the  tobacco 
crop,  and  the  Negro  slaves  were  largely  employed 
in  this  industry,  where  they  proved  very  profitable. 
They  were  also  enlisted  in  the  militia,  but  could 
not  bear  arms  except  in  defence  of  the  colonists 
against  the  Indians.  The  greater  part  of  the 
manual  labor  of  all  kinds  was  performed  by  the 
slaves. 

The  Slaves  Imported  came  chiefly  from  the 
west  coast  of  Africa.  They  were  crowded  into  the 

2 


18  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OP  THE 

holds  of  ships  in  droves,  and  often  suffered  for  food 
and  drink.  Many,  when  opportunity  permitted, 
would  jump  overboard  rather  than  be  taken  from 
their  homes.  Various  schemes  were  resorted  to  by 
the  slave-traders  to  get  possession  of  the  Africans. 
They  bought  many  who  had  been  taken  prisoners 
by  stronger  tribes  than  their  own ;  they  stole 
others,  and  some  they  took  at  the  gun  and  pistol's 
mouth. 

Many  of  the  Captives  of  the  slave-traders  sold 
in  this  country  were  from  tribes  possessing  more  or 
less  knowledge  of  the  use  of  tools.  Some  came 
from  tribes  skilled  in  making  gold  and  ivory  orna 
ments,  cloth,  and  magnificent  steel  weapons  of  war. 
The  men  had  been  trained  to  truthfulness,  honesty, 
and  valor,  while  the  women  were  virtuous  even  unto 
death.  While  polygamy  is  prevalent  among  most 
African  tribes,  yet  their  system  of  marrying  off  the 
young  girls  at  an  early  age,  and  thus  putting  them 
under  the  guardianship  of  their  husbands,  is  a  pro 
tection  to  them ;  and  the  result  is  plainly  seen  by 
travellers  who  testify  positively  to  the  uprightness 
of  the  women. 

The  Ancestors  of  the  American  Negroes,  though 
savage  in  some  respects,  yet  were  not  so  bad  as 
many  people  think.  The  native  African  had  then, 
and  he  has  now,  much  respect  for  what  we  call  law 
and  justice.  This  fact  is  substantiated  by  the  nu- 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  19 


merous  large  tribes  existing,  individuals  of  which 
grow  to  be  very  old,  a  thing  that  could  not  happen 
were  there  the  wholesale  brutalism  which  we  are 
sometimes  told  exists.  All  native  Africans  univer 
sally  despise  slavery,  and  even  in  Liberia  have  a 
contempt  for  the  colored  people  there  who  were 
once  slaves  in  America. 

The  Jamestown  Slaves  were  doomed  to  ser 
vitude  and  ignorance  both  by  law  and  custom  ;  they 
were  not  allowed  to  vote,  and  could  not  be  set  free 
even  by  their  masters,  except  for  "  some  meritorious 
service."  Their  religious  instruction  was  of  an  in 
ferior  order,  and  slaves  were  sometimes  given  to  the 
whi  .e  ministers  as  pay  for  their  services. 

The  Free  Negroes  of  Jamestown  were  in  a 
similar  condition  to  that  of  the  slaves.  They  could 
vote  and  bear  arms  in  defence  of  the  colony,  but 
not  for  themselves.  They  were  taxed  to  bear  the 
expenses  of  the  government,  but  could  not  be  edu 
cated  in  the  schools  they  helped  to  build.  Some  of 
them  managed  to  acquire  some  education  and  prop 
erty. 

The  Negro  Heroes  who  may  have  exhibited 
their  heroism  in  many  a  daring  feat  during  the  early 
history  of  Jamestown  are  not  known.  It  is  unfor 
tunate  that  there  was  no  record  kept  except  that  of 
the  crimes  of  his  ancestors  in  this  country.  Judg 
ing,  however,  from  the  records  of  later  years,  we 


20  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OP  THE 

may  conclude  that  the  Negro  slave  of  Jamestown 
was  not  without  his  Banneka  or  Blind  Tom.  Cer 
tainly  his  labor  was  profitable  and  may  be  said  to 
have  built  up  the  colony. 

When  John  Smith  became  Governor  of  the 
Jamestown  colony,  there  were  none  but  white  in 
habitants;  their  indolent  habits  caused  him  to  make 
a  law  declaring  that  "  he  who  would  not  work  should 
not  eat."  Prior  to  this  time  the  colony  had  proved 
a  failure  and  continued  so  till  the  introduction  of  the 
slaves,  under  whose  labor  it  uoon  grew  prosperous 
and  recovered  from  its  hardships. 

Thomas  Fuller,  sometimes  called  "  the  Virginia 
Calculator,"  must  not  be  overlooked  in  speaking  of 
the  record  of  the  Virginia  Negro.  He  was  stolen 
from  his  home  in  Africa  and  sold  to  a  planter  near 
Alexandria,  Va.  His  genius  for  mathematics  won 
for  him  a  great  reputation.  He  attracted  the  atten*- 
tion  of  such  men  as  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Phila 
delphia,  who,  in  company  with  others,  was  passing 
through  Virginia.  Tom  was  sent  for  by  one  of  the 
company  and  asked,  "how  many  seconds  a  man  of 
seventy  years,  some  odd  months,  weeks  and  days, 
had  lived  ?"  He  gave  the  exact  number  in  a  minute 
and  a  half.  The  gentleman  who  questioned  him  •  : .-, 
took  his  pen,  and  after  some  figuring  told  him  he 
must  be  mistaken,  as  the  number  was  too  great. 
"  Top,  massa !"  cried  Tom,  "  you  hab  left  out  the 


XLGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  21 

leap  year" — and  sure  enough  Tom  was  correct. — 
Williams. 

The   following   was   published  in  several  news 
papers  when  Thomas  Fuller  died  : 

"  DIED. — Negro  Tom,  the  famous  African  Calcu 
lator,  aged  80  years.  He  was  the  property  of  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Cox,  of  Alexandria.  Tom  was  a  very 
black  man.  He  was  brought  to  this  country  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  and  was  sold  as  a  slave  with  many 
of  his  unfortunate  countrymen.  This  man  was  a 
prodigy ;  though  he  could  neither  read  nor  write,  he 
had  perfectly  acquired  the  use  of  enumeration.  He 
could  give  the  number  of  months,  days,  weeks,  hours, 
minutes,  and  seconds  for  any  period  of  time  that  a 
.  person  chose  to  mention  allowing  in  his  calculations 
for  all  the  leap  years  that  happened  ii}  the  time.  He 
would  give  the  number  of  poles,  yards,  feet,  inches 
and  barleycorns  in  a  given  distance — say  the  diam 
eter  of  the  earth's  orbit — and  in  every  calculation  he 
would  produce  the  true  answer  in  less  time  than 
ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  men  would  take  with 
their  pens.  And  what  was,  perhaps,  more  extraor 
dinary,  though  interrupted  in  the  progress  of  his  cal 
culations  and  engaged  in  discourse  upon  any  other 
subject,  his  operations  were  not  thereby  in  the  least 
deranged.  He  would  go  on  where  he  left  off,  and 
could  give  any  and  all  of  the  stages  through  which 
his  calculations  had  passed.  Thus  died  Negro  Tom, 


22  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

this  untaught  arithmetician,  this  untutored  scholar. 
Had  his  opportunities  of  improvement  been  equal 
to  those  of  a  thousand  of  his  fellow-men,  neither  the 
Royal  Society  of  London,  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
at  Paris,  nor  even  a  Newton  himself  need  have  been 
ashamed  to  acknowledge  him  a  brother  in  science/' 
How  many  of  his  kind  might  there  have  been 
had  the  people  of  Jamestown  seen  fit  to  give  the 
Negroes  who  came  to  their  shores  a  laborer's  and 
emigrant's  chance  rather  than  enslaving  them ! 
Much  bloodshed  and  dissension  might  thus  have 
been  avoided,  and  the  honor  of  the  nation  never 
besmirched  with  human  bondage. 


«  * 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  23 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  NEW  YORK  COLONY. 

THE  enslavement  of  the  Negro  seems  to  have 
commenced  in  the  New  York  Colony  about  the  same 
time  as  at  Jamestown  (1619).  The  slaves  were  used 
on  the  farms,  and  became  so  profitable  that  about 
the  time  the  English  took  the  colony  from  the 
Dutch,  1664,  there  was  a  great  demand  for  slaves, 
and  the  trade  grew  accordingly. 

The  Privilege^  of  the  Slaves  in  New  York 
were,  for  a  while,  a  little  better  than  in  Virginia. 
They  were  taken  into  the  church  and  baptized,  and 
no  law  was  passed  to  prevent  their  getting  an  edu 
cation.  But  the  famous  Wall  Street,  now  the  finan 
cial  centre  of  the  New  World,  was  once  the  scene 
of  an  auction  block  where  Indians  and  persons  of 
Negro  descent  were  bought  and  sold.  A  whipping 
boss  was  once  a  characteristic  officer  in  New  York 
city. 

The  Riot  of  1712  shows  the  feeling  between  the 
master  and  servant  at  that  time.  The  Negro  popu 
lation  being  excluded  from  schools,  not  allowed  to 
own  land,  even  when  free,  and  forbidden  to  "  strike 


24  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


a  Christian  or  Jew  "  in  self-defence,  and  their  testi 
mony  excluded  from  the  courts,  arose  in  arms  and 
with  the  torch ;  houses  were  burned,  and  many 
whites  killed,  before  the  militia  suppressed  them. 
Many  of  the  Negroes  of  New  York  were  free,  and 
many  came  from  the  Spanish  provinces. 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  25 


CHAPTER   IV. 

MASSACHUSETTS,    RHODE    ISLAND     AND 
CONNECTICUT. 

NEGRO  slavery  existed  in  Massachusetts  as  early 
as  1633.  The  Puritan  fathers  who  came  to  this 
country  in  search  of  liberty,  carried  on  for  more 
than  a  century  a  traffic  in  human  flesh  and  blood. 
The  New  England  ships  of  the  ijih  century  brought 
cargoes  of  Negroes  from  the  west  coast  of  Africa 
and  the  Barbadoes.  They  sold  many  of  them  in 
New  England  as  well  as  in  the  Southern  colonies. 
In  1764  there  were  nearly  6000  slaves  in  Massa 
chusetts,  about  4000  in  Rhode  Island,  and  the  same 
in  Connecticut. 

The  Treatment  of  the  slaves  in  these  colonies 
at  this  time  was  regulated  by  laws  which  classed 
them  as  property,  "  being  rated  as  horses  and  hogs.'1 
They  could  not  bear  arms  nor  be  admitted  to  the 
schools.  They  were  baptized  in  the  churches,  but 
this  did  not  make  them  freemen,  as  it  did  white 
serfs. 

Better  Treatment  was  given  the  slaves  as  the 
colonies  grew  older  and  were  threatened  with  wars. 


26  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

It  tvas  thought  that  the  slaves  might  espouse  the 
cause  of  the  enemy,  and  for  this  reason  some  leni 
ency  was  shown  them,  and  the  conscience  of  the 
people  was  also  being  aroused. 

Judge  Samuel  Sewall,  a  Chief  Justice  of  Massa 
chusetts  wrote  a  tract  in  1 700  warning  the  people 
of  New  England  against  slavery  and  ill  treatment  of 
Negroes.  He  said :  "  Forasmuch  as  Liberty  is  in 
real  value  next  unto  Life,  none  ought  to  part  with  it 
themselves,  or  deprive  others  of  it,  but  upon  most 
mature  consideration." 

Judge  Sewall's  tract  greatly  excited  the  New  Eng 
land  people  on  the  subject  of  emancipating  their 
slaves.  "  The  pulpit  and  the  press  were  not  silent, 
and  sermons  and  essays  in  behalf  of  the  enslaved 
Africans  were  continually  making  their  appear 


ance." 


The  Slaves  Themselves  aroused  by  these  favor 
able  utterances  from  friendly  people  made  up  peti 
tions  which  they  presented  with  strong  arguments 
for  their  emancipation,  A  great  many  slaves  brought 
suits  against  their  masters  for  restraining  them  of 
their  liberty.  In  1 774  a  slave  "of  one  Caleb  Dodge/' 
of  Essex  county,  brought  suit  against  his  master 
praying  for  his  liberty.  The  jury  decided  that 
there  was  "  no  law  in  the  Province  to  hold  a  man  to 
serve  for  life/'  and  the  slave  of  Caleb  Dodge  won 
the  suit. 


NEGRO  RACE  7.V  AMERICA.  27 

Felix  Holbrook  and  other  slaves  presented  a 
petition  to  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representa 
tives  in  1773,  asking  to  be  set  free  and  granted 
some  unimproved  lands  where  they  might  earn  an 
honest  living  as  freemen.  Their  petition  was  de 
layed  consideration  one  year,  and  finally  passed. 
But  the  English  governors,  Hutchinson  and  Gage, 
refused  to  sign  it,  because  they  perhaps  thought  it 
would  "  choke  the  channel  of  a  commerce  in  human 
souls." 

British  Hatred  to  Negro  freedom  thus  made  it 
self  plain  to  the  New  England  slaves,  and  a  few 
years  later,  when  England  fired  her  guns  to  subdue 
the  revolution  begun  at  Lexington,  the  slave  popu 
lation  enlisted  largely  in  the  defence  of  the  colonists. 
And  thus  the  Negro  slave  by  valor,  patriotism  and 
industry,  began  to  loosen  the  chains  of  his  own 
bondage  in  the  Northern  colonies. 

PHILLIS    WHEATLEY.  - 

Before  passing  from  the  New  England  colonies 
it  would  be  unfortunate  to  the  readers  of  this  book 
were  they  not  made  acquainted  with  the  great  and 
wonderful  career  of  the  young  Negro  slave  who 
bore  the  above  name.  She  came  from  Africa  and 
was  sold  in  a  Boston  slave  market  in  the  year  1761 
to  a  kind  lady  who  was  a  Mrs.  Wheatley.  As  she 
sat  with  a  crowd  of  slaves  in  the  market,  naked,  save 


•    28 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


a  piece  of  cloth  tied  about  the  loins,  her  modest,  in 
telligent  bearing  so  attracted  Mrs.  Wheatley  that 


5SSWltfiIflfliiWj<Tk!; 


<r 


she  selected  her  in  preference  to  all  the  others.  Her 
selection  proved  a  good  one,  for,  with  clean  clothing 
and  careful  attention,  Phillis  soon  began  to  show  a 
great  desire  for  learning.  Though  only  eight  years 
old,  this  young  African,  whose  race  all  the  learned 
men  said  were  incapable  of  culture,  within  little  over 
a  year's  time  so  mastered  the  English  language  as 


NEQRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  29 



to  be  able  to  read  the  most  difficult  parts  of  the 
Bible  intelligently.  Her  achievements  in  two  or 
three  years  drew  the  leading  lights  of  Boston  to 
Mrs.  Wheatley's  house,  and  with  them  Phillis  talked 
and  carried  on  correspondence  concerning  the  popu 
lar  topics  of  the  day.  Everybody  either  knew  or 
knew  of  Phillis.  She  became  skilled  in  Latin  and 
translated  one  of  Ovid's  stories,  which  was  published 
largely  in  English  magazines.  She  published  many 
poems  in  English,  one  of  which  was  addressed  to 
General  George  Washington.  He  sent  her  the  fol 
lowing  letter  in  reply,  which  shows  that  Washington 
was  as  great  in  heart  as  in  war : 

• 

CAMBRIDGE,  28  February,  1776. 

"  Miss  Phillis : — Your  favor  of  the  26th  October 
did  not  reach  my  hands  till  the  middle  of  December. 
....  I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  your  polite 
notice  of  me  in  the  elegant  lines  you  enclosed  ;  and 
however  undeserving  I  may  be  of  such  encomium  and 
panegyric,  the  style  and  manner  exhibit  a  striking 
proof  of  your  poetical  talents,  in  honor  of  which,  and 
as  a  tribute  justly  due  to  you,  I  would  have  pub 
lished  the  poem,  had  I  not  been  apprehensive  that, 
while  I  only  meant  to  give  the  world  this  new  in 
stance  of  your  genius,  I  might  have  incurred  the  im 
putation  of  vanity.  This  and  nothing  else,  deter- 
mined  me  not  to  give  it  place  in  the  public  prints. 


30  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OP  THE 

"  If  you  should  ever  come  to  Cambridge,  or  near 
headquarters,  I  shall  be  happy  to  see  a  person  so 
favored  by  the  Muses,  and  to  whom  Nature  has  been 
so  liberal  and  beneficent  in  her  dispensations.  I 
am  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  humble  servant, 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 
—  Williams. 

» 

Phillis  was  emancipated  at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 
Soon  after  that  her  health  failed  and  she  was  sent 
to  Europe,  where  she  created  even  a  greater  sensa 
tion  than  in  America.  Men  and  women  in  the  very 
highest  stations  of  the  Old  World  were  wonder- 
struck,  and  industriously  attentive  to  this  humble 
born  African  girl.  While  Phillis  was  away  Mrs. 
Wheatley  became  seriously  ill  and  her  daily  long 
ings  were  to  see  "  her  Phillis/'  to  whom  she  was  so 
much  devoted.  It  is  related  that  she  would  often 
turn  on  her  sick-couch  and  exclaim,  "  See !  Look  at 
my  Phillis !  Does  she  not  seem  as  though  she  would 
speak  to  me  ? "  Phillis  was  sent  for  to  come,  and  in 
response  to  the  multitude  of  kindnesses  done  her  by 
Mrs.  Wheatley,  she  hastened  to  her  bed-side  where 
she  arrived  just  before  Mrs.  Wheatley  died,  and 
"  shortly  had  time  to  close  her  sightless  eyes/' 

Mr.  Wheatley,  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  married 
again  and  settled  in  England.  Phillis  being  thus 


NEGRO  RACE  AY  AMERICA.  31 


left  alone  also  married.  Her  husband  was  named 
Peters.  He,  far  inferior  to  her  in  most  every  way, 
and  becoming  jealous  of  the  favors  shown  her  by 
the  best  of  society,  became  very  cruel.  Phillis  did 
not  long  survive  his  harsh  treatment,  and  she  died 
"greatly  beloved "  and  mourned  on  two  continents, 
December  5,  1784,  at  the  age  of  31. 

Thus  passed  away  one  of  the  brightest  of  the  race, 
whose  life  was  as  pure  as  a  crystal  and  devoted  to 
the  most  beautiful  in  poetry,  letters  and  religion,  and 
exemplifies  the  capabilities  of  the  race. 

She  composed  this  verse: 

' 

"'Twas  mercy  brought  me  from  my  Pagan  land, 
Taught  my  benighted  soul  to  understand 
That  there's  a  God — that  there's  a  Saviour,  too  ; 
Once  I  redemption  neither  sought  nor  knew." 

Contrary  to  the  Connecticut  slaveholders'  feigned 
unbelief  in  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  Negro, 
and  their  assertions  of  his  utter  inferiority  in  all 
things,  they  early  enacted  the  most  rigid  laws  pro 
hibiting  the  teaching  of  any  Negro  to  read,  bond  or 
free,  with  a  penalty  of  several  hundred  dollars  for 
every  such  act.  The  following  undeniable  story  is 
woven  into  the  fabric  of  Connecticut's  history,  and 
tells  a  sad  tale  of  the  prejudice  of  her  people  against 
the  Negro  during  the  days  of  slavery  there: 

"  Prudence  Crandall,  a  young  Quaker  lady  of 


32  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

talent,  was  employed  to  teach  a  'boarding  and  day* 
school/  While  at  her  post  of  duty  one  day,  Sarah 
Harris,  whose  father  was  a  well-to-do  colored  farmer, 
applied  for  admission.  Miss  Crandall  hesitated 
somewhat  to  admit  her,  but  knowing  the  girl's  re 
spectability,  her  lady-like  and  modest  deportment, 
for  she  was  a  member  of  the  white  people's  church 
and  well  known  to  them,  she  finally  told  her  yes. 
The  girl  came.  Soon  Miss  Crandall  was  called  upon 
by  the  patrons,  announcing  their  disgust  and  loath 
ing  that  their  daughters  should  attend  school  with  a 
'nigger  girl.'  Miss  Crandall  protested,  but  to  no 
avail.  The  white  pupils  were  finally  taken  from  the 
school.  Miss  Crandall  then  opened  a  school  for 
colored  ladies.  She  enrolled  about  twenty,  but  they 
were  subjected  to  many  outrageous  insults.  They 
were  denied  accommodation  altogether  in  the  village 
of  Canterbury.  Their  well  was  filled  up  with  trash, 
and  all  kinds  of  unpleasant  and  annoying  acts  were 
thrust  upon  them.  The  people  felt  determined  that 
Canterbury  should  not  have  the  disgrace  of  a  col 
ored  school.  No,  not  even  the  State  of  Connecti 
cut.  Miss  Crandall  sent  to  Brooklyn  to  some  of  her 
friends.  They  pleaded  in  her  behalf  privately,  and 
went  to  a  town  meeting  to  speak  for  her,  but  were 
^denied  the  privilege.  Finally,  the  Legislature 
passed  a  law  prohibiting  colored  schools  in  the 
State.  From  the  advice  of  her  friends  and  her  own 


NEGRO  RACE  7Ar  AMERICA.  33 


strong-  will,  Miss  Cranclall  continued  to  teach.  She 
was  arrested  and  her  friends  were  sent  for.  They 
came,  but  would  not  be  persuaded  by  the  sheriff  and 
other  officers  to  stand  her  bond.  The  people  saw 
the  disgrace  and  felt  ashamed  to  have  it  go  down  in 
history  that  she  was  put  in  jail.  In  agreement  with 
Miss  Crandall's  wishes  her  friends  still  persisted,  so 
about  night  she  was  put  in  jail,  into  a  murderer's 
cell.  The  news  flashed  over  the  country,  much  to 
die  Connecticut  people's  chagrin  and  disgrace.  She 
had  her  trial — the  court  evaded  giving  a  decision. 
She  opened  her  school  again,  and  an  attempt  was 
made  to  burn  up  the  building  while  she  and  the 
pupils  were  there,  but  proved  unsuccessful.  One 
night  about  midnight  they  were  aroused  to  find 
themselves  besieged  by  persons  with  heavy  iron 
bars  and  clubs  breaking  the  windows  and  tearing 
things  to  pieces.  It  was  then  thought  unwise  to 
continue  the  school  longer.  So  the  doors  were 
closed,  and  the  poor  girls,  whose  only  offence  was  a 
manifestation  for  knowledge,  were  sent  to  their 
homes.  This  law,  however,  was  repealed  in  1838, 
after  lasting  five  years. 


34  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  V. 

% 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE  AND  MARYLAND. 

New  Hampshire  slaves  were  very  few  in  num 
ber.  The  people  of  this  colony  saw  the  evils  of 
slavery  very  early,  and  passed  laws  against  their 
importation.  Massachusetts  was  having  so  much 
trouble  with  her  slaves  that  the  New  Hampshire 
people  early  made  up  their  minds  that,  as  a  matter 
of  business  as  well  as  of  humanity,  they  had  best 
not  try  to  build  up  their  colony  by  dealing  in  human 
flesh  and  blood. 

Maryland  was,  up  to  1630,  a  part  of  Virginia, 
and  slavery  there  partook  of  the  same  features. 
Owing  to  the  feeling  existing  in  the  colony  between 
the  Catholics,  who  planted  it,  and  the  Protestants, 
the  slaves  were  treated  better  than  in  some  other 
provinces.  Yet  their  lot  was  a  hard  one  at  best. 
By  law,  a  white  person  could  kill  a  slave,  and  not 
suffer  death;  only  pay  a  fine. 

.White  Slaves  existed  in  this  colony,  many  of 
whom  came  as  criminals  from  England.  They,  it 
seems,  were  chiefly  domestic  servants,  while  the 
Negroes  worked  the  tobacco  fields. 


XEGRG  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  35 


BENJAMIN    BANNEKA,    ASTRONOMER    AND 
MATHEMATICIAN. 

Banneka  was  born  in  Maryland  in  the  year  1731. 
An  English  woman  named  Molly  Welsh,  who  came 
to  Maryland  as  an  emigrant,  is  said  to  have  been 
his  maternal  grandmother.  This  woman  was  sold 
as  a  slave  to  pay  her  passage  to  this  country  on 
board  an  emigrant  ship,  and  after  serving  out  her 
term  of  slavery  she  bought  two  Negro  slaves  her 
self.  These  slaves  were  men  of  extraordinary 
powers,  both  of  mind  and  body.  One  of  them,  said 
to  be  the  son  of  an  African  king,  was  set  free  by 
her,  and  she  soon  married  him.  There  were  four 
children,  and  one  of  them,  named  Mary,  married  a 
native  African,  Robert  Banneka,  who  was  the  father 
of  Benjamin. 

The  School  Days  of  young  Benjamin  were  spent 
in  a  "pay  school/1  where  some  colored  children 
were  admitted.  The  short  while  that  Benjamin 
was  there  he  learned  to  love  his  books,  and  when 
the  other  children  played  he  was  studying.  He 
was  very  attentive  to  his  duties  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  when  through  with  his  task  of  caring  for  the 
horses  and  cows,  he  would  spend  his  leisure  hours 
in  reading  books  and  papers  on  the  topics  of  the 
day. 


36  A  SCHOOL  msTonr  OF  THE 


The  Post-Office  was  the  famous  gathering  place 
in  those  days,  and  there  it  was  that  young  Benjamin 
was  accustomed  to  go.  He  met  many  of  the  lead 
ing  people  of  the  community,  and  fluently  discussed 
with  them  difficult  questions.  He  could  answer 
almost  any  problem  put  to  him  in  mathematics,  and 
became  known  throughout  the  colonies  as  a  genius. 
Many  of  his  answers  to  questions  were  beyond  the 
reach  of  ordinary  minds. 

Messrs.  Ellicott  &  Co.,  who  built  flour  mills  on 
the  Patapsco  River  near  Baltimore,  very  early  dis 
covered  Banneka's  genius,  and  Mr.  George  Ellicott 
allowed  him  the  use  of  his  library  and  astronomical 
instruments.  The  result  of  this  was  that  Benjamin 
Banneka  published  his  first  almanac  in  the  year 
1792,  said  to  be  the  first  almanac  published  in 
America.  Before  that  he  had  made  numerous  cal 
culations  in  astronomy  and  constructed  for  himself 
a  splendid  clock  that,  unfortunately,  was  burned 
with  his  dwelling  soon  after  his  death. 

Banneka's  Reputation  spread  all  over  America 
and  even  to  Europe.  He  dre\v  to  him  the  associa 
tion  of  the  best  and  most  learned  men  of  his  coun 
try.  His  ability  was  a  curiosity  to  everybody,  and 
did  much  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  Negro  of  his 
time  could  master  the  arts  and  sciences.  It  is  said 
that  he  was  the  master  of  five  different  languages, 
as  well  as  a  mathematical  and  astronomical  genius. 


XEGRO  RACK  IN  AMERICA.  37 

He  accompanied   and   assisted    the  commissioners 
who  surveyed  the  District  of  Columbia. 

He  sent  Mr.  Thomas  Jefferson  one  of  his  alma 
nacs,  which  Mr.  Jefferson  prized  so  highly  that  he 
sent  it  to  Paris,  and  wrote  Mr.  Banneka  the  following 
letter  in  reply.  Along  with  Mr.  Banneka's  almanac 
to  Mr.  Jefferson  he  sent  a  letter  pleading  for  better 
treatment  of  the  people  of  African  descent  in  the 
United  States. 

MR.  JEFFERSON'S  LETTER  TO  B.  BANNEKA. 

PHILADELPHIA,  August  30,  1791. 

"Dear  Sir: — I  thank  you  sincerely  for  your  letter 
of  the  i  Qth  instant,  and  for  the  almanac  it  contained. 
Nobody  wishes  more  than  I  do  to  see  such  proofs 
as  you  exhibit  that  Nature  has  given  to  our  black 
brethren  talents  equal  to  those  of  the  other  colors 
of  men,  and  that  the  appearance  of  a  want  of  them 
is  owing  only  to  the  degraded  condition  of  their 
existence,  both  in  Africa  and  America.  I  can  add, 
with  truth,  that  no  one  wishes  more  ardently  to  see 
a  good  system  commenced  for  raising  the  condition, 
both  of  their  body  and  mind,  to  what  it  ought  to  be, 
as  fast  as  the  imbecility  of  their  present  existence, 
and  other  circumstances  which  cannot  be  neglected, 
will  admit.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  sending  your 
almanac  to  Monsieur  de  Cordorat,  Secretary  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris  and  member  of  the 


38  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Philanthropic  Society,  because  I  considered  it  a  doc 
ument  to  which  your  whole  color  had  a  right  for 
their  justification  against  the  doubts  which  have  been 
entertained  of  them. 

16 1  am,  with  great  esteem,  sir, 

"Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"Tnos.  JEFFERSON." 

Mr.  Benjamin  Banneka^  near  Ellicotfs 
Lower  Mills,  Baltimore  County. 

The  Personal  Appearance  of  Mr.  Banneka  is 
drawn  from  the  letters  of  those  who  wrote  about 
him.  A  certain  gentleman  who  met  him  at  Ellicott's 
Mills  gives  this  description  :  "  Of  black  complexion, 
medium  stature,  of  uncommonly  soft  and  gentle 
manly  manners,  and  of  pleasing  colloquial  powers." 

Mr.  Banneka  died  about  the  year  1804,  very 
greatly  mourned  by  the  people  of  this  country  and 
Europe.  He  left  two  sisters,  who,  according  to  his 
request,  turned  over  his  books,  papers,  and  astro 
nomical  calculations  to  Mr.  Ellicott.  There  has  been 
no  greater  mind  in  the  possession  of  any  American 
citizen  than  that  of  Benjamin  Banneka.  He  stands 
out  in  history  as  one  of  those  phenomenal  characters 
whose  achievements  seem  to  be  nothing  short  of 
miraculous. 

Frances  Ellen  Watkins  was  another  of  Mary 
land's  bright  slaves.  She  distinguished  herself  as 


NEGRO  RACE  AY  AMERICA.  39 


an  anti-slavery  lecturer  in  the  Eastern  States,  and 
wrote  a  book  entitled,  "  Poems  and  Miscellaneous 
Writings;  By  Frances  Ellen  Watkins."  In  that  book 
\vas  the  following  poem  entitled  "  Ellen  Harris :" 

;)    i  ike  a  fawn  from  the  arrow,  startled  and  wild, 
A  woman  .-wept  by  me  hearing  a  child  ; 
In  her  eye  was  the  ni^ht  of  a  settled  despair, 
And  her  brow  was  overshadowed  with  anguish  and  care. 

(2)  She  was  nearing  the  river, — on  reaching  the  brink 
She  heeded  no  danger,  she  paused  not  to  think  ! 
For  she  is  a  mother — her  child  is  a  slave, — 

And  she'll  give  him  his  freedom  or  find  him  a  grave ! 

(3)  But  she's  free,— yes,  free  from  the  land  where  the  slave 
From  the  hand  of  oppression  must  rest  in  the  grave  ; 
Where  bondage  and  torture,  where  scourges  and  chains, 
Have  placed  on  our  banner  indelible  stains. 


(4)  The  blood-hounds  have  missed  the  scent  of  her  way ; 
The  hunter  is  rifled  and  foiled  of  his  prey  ; 

Fierce  jargon  and  cursing,  with  clanking  of  chains, 
Make  sounds  of  strange  discord  on  Liberty's  plains. 

(5)  With  the  rapture  of  love  and  fulness  of  bliss, 
She  placed  on  his  brow  a  mother's  fond  kiss, — 
Oh  !  poverty,  danger,  and  death  she  can  brave, 
For  the  child  of  her  love  is  no  longer  a  slave  I 

' 


40  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DELAWARE  AND  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Delaware  was  settled,  as  you  will  remember,  by 
the  Swedes  and  Danes,  in  1639.  They  were  a  sim 
ple,  contented,  and  religious  people.  It  is  recorded 
that  they  had  a  law  very  early  in  their  history  de 
claring  it  was  "  not  lawful  to  buy  and  keep  slaves." 
It  is  very  evident,  though,  that  later  on  in  the  history 
of  the  colony  slaves  were  held,  and  their  condition 
was  the  same  as  in  New  York.  While  the  north  of 
the  colony  was  perhaps  fully  in  sympathy  with  sla 
very,  the  western  part  was  influenced  by  the  relig 
ious  sentiment  of  the  Quakers  in  Pennsylvania. 

The  Friends  of  Pennsylvania  were  opposed  to 
slavery,  and  although  slavery  was  tolerated  by  law, 
the  way  was  left  open  for  their  education  and  re 
ligious  training.  In  1688,  Francis  Daniel  Pastorious* 
addressed  a  memorial  to  the  Friends  of  German- 
town.  His  was  said  to  be  the  first  protest  against 
slavery  made  by  any  of  the  churches  of  America. 
He  believed  that  "  slave  and  slave-owner  should  be 
equal  at  the  Master's  feet/' 

William  Penn  showed  himself  friendly  to  the 
slaves. 

*  Williams. 


XEGRO  RACK  fX  AMERICA.  41 

-i 

CHAPTER  VII. 

NORTH   CAROLINA. 

Tins  colony,  in  geographical  position,  lies  be 
tween  South  Carolina  and  Virginia.  While  it  held 
slaves,  it  may  be  justly  said  its  position  on  this  great 
question  was  not  so  burdensome  to  the  slave  as  the 
other  Southern  colonies,  and  even  to  the  present 
time  the  Negroes  and  whites  of  this  State  seem  to 
enjoy  the  most  harmonious  relations.  The  slave 

.  laws  of  this  State  gave  absolute  dominion  of  the 
master  over  the  servant,  but  allowed  him  to  join  the 
churches  from  the  first.  Large  communities  of  free 
Negroes  lived  in  this  State  prior  to  the  civil  war, 
and,  as  late  as  the  year  1835,  could  vote.  They  had 
some  rights  of  citizenship  and  many  of  them  became 
men  of  note. 

Prior  to  the  Civil  War  there  were  schools  for 
these  free  people.  Some  of  them  owned  slaves 
themselves.  In  this  colony  the  slaves  were  worked, 

.as  a  rule,  on  small  farms,  and  there  was  a'  close  re 
lation  established  between  master  and  slave,  which 
bore  its  fruits  in  somewhat  milder  treatment  than 
was  customary  in  colonies  where  the  slave  lived  on 


42  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

large  cotton  plantations  governed  by  cruel  over 
seers,  some  of  whom  were  imported  from  the  North. 

The  Eastern  Section  of  North  Carolina  was 
thickly  peopled  with  slaves,  and  some  landlords 
owned  as  many  as  two  thousand. 

The  increase  and  surplusage  of  the  slave  popula 
tion  in  this  State  was  sold  to  the  more  Southern 
colonies,  where  they  were  used  on  the  cotton  plan 
tations. 

A  NORTH  CAROLINA  SLAVE  POET. 

George  M.  Horton  was  his  name.  He  was  the 
slave  of  James  M.  Horton,  of  Chatham  county,  N. 
C.  Several  of  his  special  poems  were  published  in 
the  Raleigh  Register.  In  1829,  A.  M.  Gales,  of  this 
State,  afterwards  of  the  firm  of  Gales  and  Seaton, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  published  a  volume  of  the  slave 
Horton's  poems,  which  excited  the  wonder  and  ad 
miration  of  the  best  men  in  this  country.  His 
poems  reached  Boston,  where  they  were  much  talked 
of,  and  used  as  an  argument  against  slavery.  Hor 
ton,  at  the  time  his  volume  was  published,  could 
read  but  not  write,  and  was,  therefore,  compelled  to 
dictate  his  productions  to  some  one  who  wrote  them 
down  for  him.  He  afterwards  learned  to  write. 
He  seemed  to  have  concealed  all  his  achievements 
from  his  master,  who  knew  nothing  of  his  slave's 
ability  except  what  others  told  him.  He  simply 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  43 


knew  George  as  a  field  hand,  which  work  he  did 
faithfully  and  honestly,  and  wrote  his  poetry  too. 
Though  a  slave,  his  was  a  noble  soul  inspired  with 
the  Muse  from  above.  The  Raleigh  Register  said 
of  him,  July  2d,  1829:  "  That  his  heart  has  felt 
deeply  and  sensitively  in  this  lowest  possible  condi 
tion  of  human  nature  (meaning  slavery)  will  be 
easily  believed,  and  is  impressively  confirmed  by 
one  of  his  stanzas,  viz. : 
' 

"  Come,  melting  pity  from  afar, 
And  break  this  vast,  enormous  bar 

Between  a  wretch  and  thcc ; 
Purchase  a  few  short  days  of  time, 
And  bid  a  vassal  soar  sublime 

On  wings  of  Liberty," 


• 


44  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

' 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

CHARTERS  for  the  settlement  of  North  and  "South 
Carolina  were  obtained  at  the  same*  time — 1663. 
Slavery  commenced  with  the  colony.  Owing  to  the 
peculiar  fitness  of  the  soil  for  the  production  of  rice 
and  cotton,  slave  labor  was  in  great  demand.  White 
labor  failed,  and  the  colony  was  marvellously  pros 
perous  under  the  slave  system.  Negroes  were  im 
ported  from  Africa  by  the  thousands.  Their  labor 
proved  very  productive,  and  here  it  was  that  the 
slave  code  reached  its  maximum  of  harshness. 

_A  Negro  Regiment  in  the  service  of  Spain  was 
doing  duty  in  Florida,  and  through  it  the  Spanish, 
who  were  at  dagger's  ends  with  the  British  colonies, 
sent  out  spies  who  offered  inducements  to  such  of 
the  South  Carolina  slaves  as  would  run  away  and 
join  them.  Many  slaves  ran  away.  Very  rigid  and 
extreme  laws  were  passed  to  prevent  slaves  from 
running  away,  such  as  branding,  and  cutting  the 
"  ham-string  "  of  the  leg. 

A  Riot  followed  the  continued  cruel  treatment 
of  the  slaves  under  the  runaway  code ;  1 748  is  said 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  45 

to  have  been  the  year  in  which  a  crowd  of  slaves 
assembled  in  the  village  of  Stono,  slew  the  guards 
at  the  arsenal  and  secured  the  ammunition  there. 
They  then  marched  to  the  homes  of  several  leading 
men  whom  they  murdered,  together  with  their  wives 
and  children.  The  slaves  captured  considerable 
rum  in  their  plundering  expedition,  and  having  in 
dulged  very  freely,  stopped  for  a  frolic,  and  in  the 
midst  of  their  hilarity  were  captured  by  the  whites, 
and  thus  ended  the  riot. 

The  Discontent  of  the  Slaves  grew,  however, 
in  spite  of  the  speedy  ending  of  this  attempt  at  in 
surrection.  Cruel  and  inhuman  treatment  was  bear 
ing  its  fruits  in  a  universal  dissatisfaction  of  the 
slaves,  and  in  South  Carolina,  as  in  Massachusetts, 
it  began  to  be  a  serious  question  as  to  what  side  the 
slaves  would  take  in  the  war  of  the  coming  Revolu 
tion.  England  offered  freedom  and  money  to  slaves 
who  would  join  her  army.  The  people  of  South 
Carolina  did  not  wait  long  before  they  allowed  the 
Negroes  to  enlist  in  defence  of  the  colonies,  and 
highly  complimented  their  valor.  If  a  slave  killed 
a  Briton  he  was  emancipated  ;  if  he  were  taken 
prisoner  and  escaped  back  into  the  Province,  he  wa* 
also  set  free. 


46  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER   IX. 

GEORGIA. 

FROM  the  time  of  its  settlement  in  1732  till  1750 
this  colony  held  no  slaves.  Many  of  the  inhabitants 
were  anxious  for  the  introduction  of  slaves,  and 
when  the  condition  of  the  colony  finally  became 
hopeless  they  sent  many  long  petitions  to  the  Trus 
tees,  stating  that  "the  one  thing  needful"  for  their 
prosperity  was  Negroes.  It  was  a  long  time  before 
the  Trustees  would  give  their  consent ;  they  said  that 
the  colony  of  Georgia  was  designed  to  be  a  protec 
tion  to  South  Carolina  and  the  other  more  Northern 
colonies  against  the  Spanish,  who  were  then  occupy 
ing  Florida,  and  if  the  colonists  had  to  control  slaves 
it  would  weaken  their  power  to  defend  themselves. 
Finally,  owing  to  the  hopeless  condition  of  the 
Georgia  colony,  the  Trustees  yielded.  Slaves  were 
introduced  in  large  numbers. 

Prosperity  came  with  the  slaves,  and,  as  in  the 
case  of  Virginia,  the  colony  of  Georgia  took  a  fresh 
start  and  began  to  prosper.  White  labor  proved  a 
failure.  It  was  the  honest  and  faithful  toil  of  the 
Negro  that  turned  the  richness  of  Georgia's  soil  into 


XEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  47 


English  gold,  built  cities  and  created  large  estates, 
gilded  mansions  furnished  with  gold  and  silver 
plate.* 

Oglethorpe  Planned  the  Georgia  colony  as  a 
home  for  Englishmen  who  had  failed  in  business  and 
were  imprisoned  for  their  debts.  These  English 
people  were  out  of  place  in  the  wild  woods  of 
America,  and  continued  a  failure  in  America,  as  well 
as  in  England,  until  the  toiling  but  "heathen"  Afri 
can  came  to  their  aid. 

Cotton  Plantations  were  numerous  in  Georgia 
under  the  slave  system.  The  slave-owners  had 
large  estates,  numbering  thousands  of  acres  in  many 
cases.  The  slaves  were  experts  in  the  culture  of 
cotton.  The  climate  was  adapted  to  sugar-cane  and 
rice,  both  of  which  were  raised  in  abundance. 


*  The  famous  minister,  George  Whitfield,  referring  to  his  plantation  in 
this  colony,  said  :  "  Upward  of  five  thousand  pounds  have  been  expended  in 
the  undertaking,  and  yet  very  little  proficiency  made  in  the  cultivation  of  my 
tract  of  land,  and  that  entirely  owing  to  the  necessity  I  lay  under  of  making 
use  of  white  hands.  Had  a  Negro  bccix  allowed  I  should  now  have  had  a 
sufficiency  to  support  a  great  many  orphans,  without  expending  above  half  the 
sum  which  had  been  laid  out."  lie  purchased  a  plantation  in  South  Caro 
lina,  where  slavery  existed,  and  speaks  of  it  thus  :  "  Blessed  be  God!  This 
plantation  has  succeeded;  and  though  at  present  I  have  only  eight  working 
hands,  yet,  in  all  probability,  there  will  be  more  raised  in  one  year,  and  with 
out  a  quarter  of  the  expense,  than  has  been  produced  at  Bethcsda  for  several 
years  past.  This  confirms  me  in  the  opinion  I  have  entertained  for  a  long 
time,  that  Georgia  never  can  or  will  be  a  flourishing  province  without 
groes  are  allowed." 


48  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


BLQUNT'S   FORT. 


This  fortification,  erected  by  some  of  the  armies 
during  the  early  colonial  wars,  had  been  abandoned. 
It  lies  on  'the  west  bank  of  the  Apalachicola  river  in 
Florida,  forty  miles  from  the  Georgia  line.  Negro 
refugees  from  Georgia  fled  into  the  everglades  of 
Florida  as  a  hiding-place  during  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  ^  In  these  swamps  they  remained  for 
forty  years  successfully  baffling  all  attempts  to  re- 
enslave  them.  Many  of  those  who  planned  the 
escape  at  first  were  now  dead,  and  their  children  had 
grown  up  to  hate  the  lash  and  love  liberty.  Their 
parents  had  taught  them  that  to  die  in  the  swamps 
with  liberty  was  better  than  to  feast  as  a  bondman 
and  a  slave.  When  Blount's  Fort  was  abandoned 
and  taken  possension  of  by  these  children  of  the 
swamp,  there  were  three  hundred  and  eleven  of 
them,  out  of  which  not  more  than  twenty  had  ever 
been  slaves.  They  were  joined  by  other  slaves  who 
ran  away  as  chance  permitted.  The  neighboring 
slave-holders  attempted  to  capture  these  people  but 
failed.  They  finally  called  on  the  President  of  the 
United  States  for  aid.  General  Jackson,  then  com 
mander  of  the  Southern  militia,  delegated  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Clinch  to  take  the  fort  and  reduce 
these  people  to  slavery  again.  His  sympathies 
being  with  the  refugees,  he  marched  to  the  fort  and 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  49 

. 

returned,  reporting  that  "  the  fortification  was  not 
accessible  by  land." 

Commodore  Patterson  next  received  orders. 
He  commanded  the  American  fleet,  then  lying  in 
Mobile  Bay.  A  "  sub-order  was  given  instantly  to 
Lieutenant  Loomis  to  ascend  the  Apalachicola  river 
with  two  gun-boats,  to  seize  the  people  in  Blount's 
Fort,  deliver  them  to  their  owners,  and  destroy  the 
fort/'  At  early  dawn  on  the  morning  of  September 
the  1 7th,  1816,  the  two  boats,  with  full  sail  catching 
a  gentle  breeze,  moved  up  the  river  towards  the  fort. 
They  lowered  a  boat  on  their  arrival  and  twelve 

men  went  ashore.     They  were  met  at  the  water's 

"  * 

edge  and  asked  their  errand  by  a  number  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  fort.  Lieutenant  Loomis  in 
formed  them  that  he  came  to  destroy  the  fort  and 
turn  over  its  inmates  to  the  "  slave-holders,  then  on 
board  the  gun-boat,  who  claimed  them  as  fugitive 
slaves/1  The  demand  was  rejected.  The  colored 
men  returned  to  the  fort  and  informed  the  inmates. 
Great  consternation  prevailed.  The  women  were 
much  distressed,  but  amid  the  confusion  and  ex 
citement  there  appeared  an  aged  father  whose  back 
bore  the  print  of  the  lash,  and  whose  shoulder  bore 
the  brand  of  his  master.  He  assured  the  people 
that  the  fort  could  not  be  taken,  and  ended  his 
speech  with  these  patriotic  words  :  "Give  me  liberty, 
or  give  me  death/1  The  shout  went  up  from  the 

4 


60  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

entire  fort  as  from  one  man,  and  they  prepared  to 
face  the  enemy. 

The  Gun-boats  Soon  Opened  Fire.  For  sev 
eral  hours  they  buried  balls  in  the  earthen  walls 
and  injured  no  one.  Bombs  were  then  fired.  These 
had  more  effect,  as  there  was  no  shelter  from  them. 
Mothers  were  more  careful  to  hug  their  young 
babies  closer  to  their  bosoms.  All  this  seemed  little 
more  than  sport  for  the  inmates  of  the  fort,  who  saw 
nothing  but  a  joke  in  it  after  shelter  had  been 
found. 

Lieutenant  Loomis  saw  his  failure.  He  had  a 
consultation,  and  it  was  agreed  to  fire  "  hot  shot  at 
the  magazine."  So  the  furnaces  were  heated  and 
the  fiery  flames  began  to  whizz  through  the  air. 
This  last  stroke  was  effectual ;  the  hot  shot  set  the 
magazine  on  fire,  and  a  terrible  explosion  covered 
the  entire  place  with  debris.  Many  were  instantly 
killed  by  the  falling  earth  and  timbers.  The  man 
gled  limbs  of  mothers  and  babies  lay  side  by  side. 
It  was  now  dark.  Fifteen  persons  in  the  fort  had 
survived  the  explosion.  The  sixty  sailors  and  offi 
cers  now  entered,  trampling  over  the  wounded  and 
dying,  and  took  these  fifteen  refugees  in  handcuffs 
and  ropes  back  to  the  boats.  The  dead,  wounded 
and  dying  were  left. 

As  the  two  boats  moved  away  from  this  scene  of 
carnage  the  sight  weakened  the  veteran  sailors  on 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  51 


board  the  boats,  and  when  the  officers  retired  these 
weather-worn  sailor  veterans  " gathered  before  the 
mast,  and  loud  and  bitter  were  the  curses  uttered 


against  slavery  and  against  the  officers  of  the  govern 
ment  who  had  thus  constrained  them  to  murder  inno- 

B 

cent  women  and  helpless  children,  merely  for  their 
love  of  liberty." 

The  Dead  Remained  unburied  in  the  fort.  The 
wounded  and  dying  were  not  cared  for,  and  all  were 
left  as  fat  prey  for  vultures  to  feast  upon.  For 
fifty  years  afterward  the  bones  of  these  brave  people 
lay  bleaching  in  the  sun.  Twenty  years  after  the 
murder  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  one  of 
the  free  States  introduced  a  bill  giving  a  gratuity 
to  the  perpetrators  of  this  crime.  The  bill  passed 
both  houses. 


Having  briefly  considered  the  establishment  of 
slavery  in  the  colonies,  where  the  Negro  slave  was 
employed  in  every  menial  occupation,  and  where 
he  accepted  the  conditions  imposed  upon  him  with 
a  full  knowledge  of  the  wrong  done,  but  still  jubi 
lant  with  songs  of  hope  for  deliverance,  and  trust 
in  God,  whose  promises  are  many  to  the  faithful, 
let  us  turn  to 

The  War  of  the  Revolution,  which  soon  came 


62 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


on  ;  and  in  it  Providence  no  doubt  designed  an 
opportunity  for  the  race  to  loosen  the  rivets  in  the 
chains  that  bound  them.  They  made  good  use  of 
this  opportunity. 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  53 

_ : 


CHAPTER  X. 

HABITS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  SOUTHERN 

COLONIES. 

Barnes  gives  the  following  account  of  the  habits 
and  customs  of  the  Southern  colonies  during  the 
days  of  slavery : 

"  The  Southern  Colonists  differed  widely  from 
the  Northern  in  habits  and  style  of  living.  In  place 
of  thickly-settled  towns  and  villages,  they  had  large 
plantations,  and  were  surrounded  by  a  numerous 
househol  i  of  servants.  The  Negro  quarters  formed 
a  hamlet  apart,  with  its  gardens  and  poultry  yards. 
An  estate  in  those  days  was  a  little  empire.  The 
planter  had  among  his  slaves  men  of  every  trade, 
and  they  made  most  of  the  articles  needed  for  com 
mon  use  upon  the  plantation.  There  were  large 
sheds  for  curing  tobacco,  and  mills  for  grinding 
corn  and  wheat.  The  tobacco  was  put  up  and  con 
signed  directly  to  England.  The  flour  of  the  Mount 
Vernon  estate  was  packed  under  the  eye  of  Wash 
ington  himself,  and  we  are  told  that  barrels  of  flour 
bearing  his  brand  passed  in  the  West  India  market 
without  inspection. 


54  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

"Up  the  Ashley  and  Cooper  (near  Charles 
ton)  were  the  remains  of  the  only  bona  fide  nobility 
ever  established  on  our  soil.  There  the  descend 
ants  of  the  Landgraves,  who  received  their  title  in 
accordance  with  Locke's  grand  model,  occupied 
their  manorial  dwellings.  Along  the  banks  of  the 
James  and  Rappahannock  the  plantation  often 
passed  from  father  to  son,  according  to  the  law  of 
entail. 

"The  heads  of  these  great  Southern  families  lived 
like  lords,  keeping  their  packs  of  choice  hunting 
dogs,  and  their  stables  of  blooded  horses,  and  roll 
ing  to  church  or  town  in  their  coach  of  six,  with 
outriders  on  horseback.  Their  spacious  mansions 
were  sometimes  built  of  imported  brick.  Within, 
the  grand  staircases,  the  mantels,  and  the  wainscot, 
reaching  in  a  quaint  fashion  from  floor  to  ceiling, 
were  of  mahogany  elaborately  carved  and  paneled. 
The  sideboards  shone  with  gold  and  silver  plate 
and  the  tables  were  loaded  with  the  luxuries  of  the 
Old  World.  Negro  servants  thronged  about,  ready 
to  perform  every  task. 

"  All  labor  was  done  by  Slaves,  it  being  con 
sidered  degrading  for  a  white  man  to  work.  Even 
the  superintendence  of  the  plantation  and  slaves 
was  generally  committed  to  overseers,  while  the 
master  dispensed  a  generous  hospitality,  and  occu 
pied  himself  with  social  and  political  life/' 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  55 

SLAVERY  INTRODUCED  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

In  Virginia,  the  last  of  August,  1619. 

In  New  York,  1628. 

In  Massachusetts,  1637. 

In  Maryland,  1634. 

In  Delaware,  1636. 

In  Connecticut,  between  1631  and  1636. 

In  Rhode  Island  from  the  beginning,  1647. 

New  Jersey,  not  known;  as  early  though  as  in 
New  Netherland. 

South  Carolina  and  North  Carolina  from  the  ear 
liest  days  of  existence. 

In  New  Hampshire,  slavery  existed  from  the  be 
ginning. 

Pennsylvania  doubtful. 


66  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XI.       . 

NEGRO  .SOLDIERS  IN  REVOLUTIONARY 

TIMES. 

Objections  to  Enlisting  Negroes  caused  much 
discussion  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary 
war.  The  Northern  colonies  partially  favored  their 
enlistment  because  they  knew  of  their  bravery,  and 
rightly  reasoned  that  if  the  Negroes  were  not  allowed 
to  enlist  in  the  Colonial  army,  where  their  sympa 
thies  were,  they  would  accept  the  propositions  of 
the  British,  who  promised  freedom  to  every  slave 
who  would  desert  his  master  and  join  the  English 
army. 

Lord  Dunmore,  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  the 
other  British  leaders,  saw  a  good  chance  to  weaken 
the  strength  of  the  colonies  by  offering  freedom  to 
the  slaves  if  they  would  fight  for  England.  They 
knew  that  the  slaves  would  be  used  to  throw  up 
fortifications,  do  fatigue  duties,  and  raise  the  provi 
sions  necessary  to  support  the  Colonial  army.  So 
Lord  Dunmore  issued  a  proclamation  offering  free 
dom  to  all  slaves  who  would  join  his  army.  As  the 
result  of  this,  Thomas  Jefferson  is  quoted  as  saying 


1     • 

NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  57 

that  30,000  Negroes  from  Virginia  alone  joined  the 
British  ranks. 

The  Americans  became  fearful  of  the  results 
that  were  sure  to  follow  the  plans  of  Lord  Dun- 
more.  Sentiment  began  to  change  in  the  Negro's 
favor;  the  newspapers  were  filled  with  kind  words 
for  the  slaves,  trying  to  convince  them  that  the 
British  Government  had  forced  slavery  upon  the 
colonies  against  their  will,  and  that  their  best  inte 
rests  were  centred  in  the  triumph  of  the  Colonial 
army.  A  part  of  an  article  in  one  paper,  headed 
"  Caution  to  the  Negro,"  read  thus:  "Can  it,  then, 
be  supposed  that  the  Negroes  will  be  better  used 
by  the  English,  who  have  always  encouraged  and 
upheld  this  slavery, 'than  by  their  present  masters, 
who  pity  their  condition ;  who  wish  in  general  to 
make  it  as  easy  and  comfortable  as  possible,  and 
who  would,  were  it  in  their  power,  or  were  they  per 
mitted,  not  only  prevent  any  more  Negroes  from 
losing  their  freedom,  but  restore  it  to  such  as  have 

already  unhappily  lost  it They  will  send  the 

Negroes  to  the  West  Indies  where  every  year  they 
sell  many  thousands  of  their  miserable  brethren. 
Be  not  tempted,  ye  Negroes,  to  ruin  yourselves  by 
this  proclamation  !"  The  colonies  finally  allowed 
the  enlistment  of  Negroes,  their  masters  being  paid 
for  them  out  of  the  public  treasury.  Those  slaves 
who  had  already  joined  the  British  were  offered 

' 


58  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OP  THE 

pardon  if  they  would  escape  and  return,  and  a  severe 
punishment  was  to  be  inflicted  on  those  who  left  the 
colony  if  they  were  caught. 

To  Offset  the  Plans  of  Lord  Dunmore,  the 
Americans  proposed  to  organize  a  Negro  army,  to 
be  commanded  by  the  brave  Colonel  Laurens ;  and 
on  this  subject  the  following  letter  was  addressed  to 
John  Jay,  President  of  Congress,  by  the  renowned 
Alexander  Hamilton.  This  letter  also  shows  in. 
what  esteem  the  Negro  slave  of  America  was  held 
by  men  of  note : 

"HEADQUARTERS,  March  14,  1779. 
11  To  John  Jay. 

"DEAR  SIR: — Col.  Laurens,  'who  will  have  the 
honor  of  delivering  you  this  letter,  is  on  his  way  to 
South  Carolina  on  a  project  which  I  think,  in  the 
present  situation  of  affairs  there,  is  a  very  good  one, 
and  deserves  every  kind  of  support  and  encourage 
ment.  This  is,  to  raise  two,  or  three,  or  four  battalions 
of  Negroes,  with  the  assistance  of  the  government 
of  that  State,  by  contributions  from  the  owners  in 
proportion  to  the  number  they  possess.  If  you 
think  proper  to  enter  upon  the  subject  with  him,  he 
will  give  you  a  detail  of  his  plan.  He  wishes  to  have 
it  recommended  by  Congress  and  the  State,  and,  as 
an  inducement,  they  should  engage  to  take  those 
battalions  into  Continental  pay. 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  59 

"It  appears  to  me  that  an  experiment  of  this  kind, 
in  the  present  state  of  Southern  affairs,  is  the  most 
rational  that  can  be  adopted,  and  promises  very 
important  advantages.  Indeed,  I  hardly  see  how  a 
sufficient  force  can  be  collected  in  that  quarter 
without  it,  and  the  enemy's  operations  are  growing 
infinitely  more  serious  and  formidable.  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  that  the  Negroes  will  make  very 
excellent  soldiers  with  proper  management,  and  I 
will  venture  to  pronounce  that  they  cannot  be  put 
in  better  hands  than  those  of  Mr.  Laurens.  He  has 
all  the  zeal,  intelligence,  enterprise,  and  every  other 
qualification  necessary  to  succeed  in  such  an  under 
taking.-  •  It  is  a  maxim  with  some  great  military 
judges  that,  "with  sensible  officers,  soldiers  can 
hardly  be  too  stupid ;  "  and,  on  this  principle,  it  is 
thought  that  the  Russians  would  make  the  best 
troops  in  the  world  if  they  were  under  other  officers 
than  their  own.  I  mention  this,  because  I  hear  it 
frequently  objected  to  the  scheme  of  embodying 
Negroes,  that  they  are  too  stupid  to  make  soldiers. 
This  is  so  far  from  appearing,  to  me,  a  valid  objec 
tion,  that  I  think  their  want  of  cultivation  (for  their 
natural  faculties  are  probably  as  good  as  ours), 
joined  to  that  habit  of  subordination  from  a  life  of 
servitude,  will  make  them  sooner  become  soldiers 
than  our  white  inhabitants.  Let  officers  be  men 
of  sense  and  sentiment,  and  the  nearer  the  soldiers 
approach  to  machines  perhaps  the  better. 


60  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OP  THE 

"  I  foresee  that  this  project  will  have  to  combat 
much  opposition  from  prejudice  and  self-interest. 
The  contempt  we  have  been  taught  to  entertain  for 
the  blacks  makes  us  fancy  many  things  that  are 
founded  neither  in  reason  nor  experience,  and  an 
unwillingness  to  part  with  property  of  so  valuable  a 
kind  will  furnish  a  thousand  arguments  to  show  the 
impracticability  or  pernicious  tendency  of  a  scheme 
which  requires  such  a  sacrifice.  But  it  should  be 
considered  that  if  we  do  not  make  use  of  them  in 
this  way  the  enemy  probably  will,  and  that  the  best 
way  to  counteract  the  temptations  they  hold  out  will 
be  to  offer  them  ourselves.  An  essential  part  of 
the  plan  is  to  give  them  their  freedom  with  their 
muskets.  This  will  secure  their  fidelity,  animate 
their  courage,  and,  I  believe,  will  have  a  good  influ 
ence  upon  those  who  remain  by  opening  a  door  to 
their  emancipation.  This  circumstance,  I  confess, 
has  no  small  weight  in  inducing  me  to  wish  the  suc 
cess  of  the  project,  for  the  dictates  of  humanity  and 
true  policy  equally  interest  me  in  favor  of  this  un 
fortunate  class  of  men.  With  the  truest  respect 
and  esteem,  I  am,  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"ALEX.  HAMILTON/' 

George  Washington,  James  Madison,  and  the 
Continental  Congress  gave  their  consent  to  the  plan 


NEORO  EACE  IN  AMERICA.  61 

m ; 

of  Col.  Laurens,  and  recommended  it  to  the  South 
ern  Colonies.  It  was  resolved  by  Congress  to  com 
pensate  the  master  for  the  slaves  used  by  Col.  Lau 
rens  at  the  rate  of  $1000  apiece  for  each  "able- 
bodied  Negro  man  of  standard  size,  not  exceeding 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  who  shall  be  so  enlisted 
and  pass  muster.  That  no  pay  be  allowed  to  the 
said  Negroes,  but  that  they  be  clothed  and  sub 
sisted  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States;  that 
every  Negro  who  shall  well  and  faithfully  serve 
as  a  soldier  to  the  end  of  the  present  war,  and  shall 
then  return  his  arms,  shall  be  emancipated  and 
receive  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars.'* 

Congress  commissioned  Col.  Laurens  to  carry* 
out  this  plan.  "  He  repaired  to  South  Carolina 
and  threw  all  his  energies  into  his  noble  mis 
sion/'  The  people  of  the  States  of  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina  refused  to  co-operate  with  him.  It 
was  difficult  to  get  white  troops  to  enlist.  The 
Tories,  who  opposed  the  war  against  England, 
were  very  strong  in  several  of  the  Southern  colo 
nies. 

A  Letter  from  General  Washington  will  help 
us  to  understand  the  condition  of  affairs  in  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  He  wrote  to  Col.  Laurens 
as  follows:  "I  must  confess  that  I  am  not  at  all 
astonished  at  the  failure  of  your  plan.  That  spirit 
of  freedom  which,  at  the  commencement  of  this 


62  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OP  THE 

contest,  would  have  gladly  sacrificed  everything  to 
the  attainment  of  its  object,  has  long  since  subsided, 
and  every  selfish  passion  has  taken  its  place.  It  is 
not  the  public  but  private  interest  which  influences 
the  generality  of  mankind,  nor  can  the  Americans 
any  longer  boast  an  exception.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances  it  would  rather  have  been  surprising 
if  you  had  succeeded,  nor  will  you,  I  fear,  have 
better  success  in  Georgia." 

Col.  Laurens  was  killed  in  battle,  but  he  had  not 
entirely  abandoned  his  plan  of  enlisting  the  slaves. 
But  in  spite  of  the  recommendations  of  Congress, 
he  could  not  succeed,  for  the  States  of  South  Caro 
lina  and  Georgia  coveted  their  slaves  too  much  to 
allow  this  entering  wedge  to  their  ultimate  freedom. 
Had  his  plan  been  carried  out,  slavery  would  prob 
ably  have  been  abolished  as  soon  at  the  South  as  at 
the  North.  The  Negroes  who  would  have  come 
out  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  would  have  set 
themselves  to  work  to  relieve  the  condition  of  their 
brethren  in  shackles. 

Connecticut  Failed  to  endorse  the  enlistment  of 
Negroes  by  its  Legislature,  but  Mr.  Williams  in  his 
history  gives  the  roster  of  a  company  of  Negroes  in 
that  State,  numbering  fifty-seven,  with  David  Hum 
phreys,  Captain.  White  officers  refused  to  serve  in 
the  company.  David  Humphreys  continued  at  the 
head  of  this  force  until  the  war  closed. 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  63 


CHAPTER  XII. 

NEGRO  HEROES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


Among  Those  whose  blood  was  first  shed  for 
the  cause  of  American  liberty  was  the  runaway  slave, 
Crispus  Attucks.  Having  escaped  from  his  master, 
William  Brown,  of  Framingham,  Massachusetts,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-seven,  being  then  six  feet  two 
inches  high,  with  "short,  curled  hair/'  he  made  his 
way  to  Boston.  His  master  in  1750  offered  a 
reward  of  ten  pounds  for  him,  but  Crispus  was  not 
found.  When  next  heard  from  he  turns  up  in  the 
streets  of  Boston. 

THE   LEADER   WHO   FELL   IN   THE   FAMOUS   BOSTON 

MASSACRE. 

Attucks  had  no  doubt  been  listening  to  the  fiery 
eloquence  of  the  patriots  of  those  burning  times. 
The  words  of  the  eloquent  Otis  had  kindled  his  soul, 
and  though  a  runaway  slave,  his  patriotism  was  so 
deep  that  he  it  was  who  sacrificed  his  Vitefirsi  on  the 
altar  of  American  Liberty. 

General  Gage,  the  English  commander,  had 
taken  possession  of  Boston.  Under  the  British  flag 


64 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


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NKfiKO  RACE  LV  AMERICA.  65 


gaily  dressed  soldiers  marched  the  streets  of  Boston 
as  through  a  conquered  city ;  their  every  act  was  an 
insult  to  the  inhabitants.  Finally,  on  March  5,  1 770, 
Crispus  Attucks,  at  the  head  of  a  crowd  of  citizens, 
resolved  no  longer  to  be  insulted,  and  determining 
to  resist  any  invasion  of  their  rights  as  citizens,  a 
fight  soon  ensued  on  the  street.  The  troops  were 
ordered  to  fire  on  the  "  mob/1  and  Attucks  fell,  the 
first  one,  with  three  others,  Caldwell,  Gray,  and 
Maverick.  The  town  bell  was  rung,  the  alarm 
given  and  citizens  from  the  country  ran  into  Boston, 
where  the  greatest  excitement  prevailed. 

The  Burial  of  Attucks,  the  only  unknown  dead, 
was  from  Faneuil  Hall.  The  funeral  procession 
was  enormous,  and  many  of  the  best  citizens  of  Bos 
ton  readily  followed  this  former  slave  and  unknown 
hero  to  an  honored  grave.  Many  orators  spoke  in 
the  highest  terms  of  Crispus  Attucks.  A  verse 
mentioning  him  reads  thus  : 


"  Long  as  in  freedom's  cause  the  wise  contend, 
Dear  to  your  country  shall  your  fame  extend  ; 
While  to  the  world  the  lettered  stone  shall  tell 
Where  Caldwell,  Attucks,  Gray  and  Maverick  fell." 


66 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


Peter  Salem  shoots  Major  Pitcairn  at  Bunker  Hill. 

Bunker  Hill  was  the  scene  of  a  brave  deed  by 
a  Negro  soldier.  Major  Pitcairn  was  commander 
of  the  British  forces  there.  The  battle  was  fierce ; 
victory  seemed  sure  to  the  English,  when  Pitcairn 
mounted  an  eminence,  shouting  triumphantly,  "The 
day  is  ours/'  At  this  moment  the  Americans  stood 
as  if  dumfounded,  when  suddenly,  with  the  leap  of 
a  tiger,  there  rushed  forth  Peter  Salem,  who  fired 
directly  at  the  officer's  breast  and  killed  him.  Salem 
was  said  to  have  been  a  slave,  of  Framingham,  Mas 
sachusetts.  General  Warren,  who  was  killed  in  this 
battle,  greatly  eulogized  Crispus  Attucks  for  his 
bravery  in  Boston,  and  had  he  not  been  stricken 
down  so  soon,  Peter  Salem  would  doubtless  also 


KEG  no  RACK  LV  AMERICA.  67 

have   received  high  encomiums  from  his  eloquent 
lips.  * 

Five  Thousand  Negroes  are  said  to  have 
fought  on  the  side  of  the  colonies  during  the  Revo 
lution.  Most  of  them  were  from  the  northern 
colonies.  There  were,  possibly,  50,000  Negroes  en 
listed  on  the  side  of  Great  Britain,  and  30,000  of 
these  were  from  Virginia. 

SOME   INDIVIDUALS   OF   REVOLUTIONARY   TIMES. 

Primus  Hall,  was  body-servant  of  Colonel  Pick 
ering  in  Massachusetts.  General  Washington  was 
quite  intimate  with  the  Colonel  and  paid  him  many 
visits.  On  one  occasion,  Washington  continued  his 
visit  till  a  late  hour,  and  being  assured  by  Primus 
that  there  were  blankets  enough  to  accommodate 
him,  he  resolved  to  spend  the  night  in  the  Colonel's 
quarters.  Accordingly  two  beds  of  straw  were  made 
down,  and  Washington  and  Colonel  Pickering  re 
tired,  leaving  Primus  engaged  about  the  tent.  Late 
in  the  night  General  Washington  awoke,  and  seeing 
Primus  sitting  on  a  box  nodding,  rose  up  in  his  bed 
and  said :  "  Primus,  what  did  you  mean  by  saying  that 
you  had  blankets  enough  ?  Have  you  given  up  your 
blanket  and  straw  to  me,  that  I  may  sleep  comfort 
ably  while  you  are  obliged  to  sit  through  the  night?" 
"It's  nothing/*  said  Primus;  "  don't  trouble  yourself 


68  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

about  me,  General,  but  go  to  sleep  again.  No  mat 
ter  about  me  ;  I  sleep  very  good/'  "  But  it  is  mat 
ter  ;  it  is  matter/'  replied  Washington,  earnestly. 
"  I  cannot  do  it,  Primus.  If  either  is  to  sit  up,  I  will. 
But  I  think  there  is  no  need  of  either  sitting  up. 
The  blanket  is  wide  enough  for  two ;  come  and  lie 
down  here  with  me."  "  O,  no,  General,"  said  Pri 
mus  ;  "  let  me  sit  here  ;  I'll  do  very  well  on  the  box." 
Washington  said,  "  I  say,  come  and  lie  down  here  ! 
There  is  room  for  both,  and  I  insist  upon  it."  And, 
as  he  spoke,  he  threw  up  the  blanket  and  moved 
to  one  side  of  the  straw.  Primus  hesitated,  but 
Washington  continuing  to  insist,  Primus  finally  pre 
pared  himself  and  laid  down  by  Washington,  and 
on  the  same  straw,  and  under  the  same  blanket, 
where  the  General  and  the  Negro  servant  slept  till 
morning. 

Washington  is  said  to  have  been  out  walking 
one  day  in  company  with  some  distinguished  gentle 
men,  and  during  the  walk  he  met  an  old  colored 
man,  who  very  politely  tipped  his  hat  and  spoke  to 
the  General.  Washington,  in  turn,  took  off  his  hat 
to  the  colored  man,  on  seeing  which  one  of  the  com 
pany,  in  a  jesting  manner,  inquired  of  the  General 
if  he  usually  took  off  his  hat  to  Negroes.  Where 
upon  Washington  replied  :  "  Politeness  is  cheap,  and 
I  never  allow  any  one  to  be  more  polite  to  me  than 
I  to  him." 


XEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA. 


69 


Brave  Colored  Artilleryman, 

Judge  Story  gives  an  account  of  a  colored  ar 
tilleryman  who  was  in  charge  of  a  cannon  with  a 
white  soldier  at  Bunker  Hill.  He  had  one  arm  so 
badly  wounded  he  could  not  use  it.  He  suggested 
to  the  white  soldier  that  he  change  sides  so  as  to 
use  the  other  arm.  He  did  this ;  and  while  thus 
laboring  under  pain  and  loss  of  blood,  a  shot  came 
which  killed  him. 

Prince appears  in  the  attempt  to  capture 

General  Prescott,  of  the  Royal  army,  stationed  at 
Newport,  R.  I.  General  Lee,  of  the  American  forces, 
was  held  as  a  prisoner  by  the  British,  and  it  was 
designed  to  capture  Prescott  so  as  to  be  able  to 
give  him  in  exchange  for  Lee.  Colonel  Barton 
planned  the  scheme,  and  set  out  to  Prescott's  sleep- 


70  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

ing  apartments  in  the  night.  Prince  followed  the 
lead  of  Colonel  Barton  to  the  door.  There  the  sen 
tinel  was  seized  with  his  bayonet  at  the  Colonel's 
breast,  and  ordered  to  be  silent  on  pain  of  death, 
when  Prince  came  forward  and  with  two  strokes  at 
the  door  with  his  head  it  came  open.  Prescott  was 
seized  by  Prince  while  in  bed  and  made  a  prisoner. 
Colonel  Barton  was  presented  an  elegant  sword  for 
this  brave  exploit  which  Prince  achieved. 

Prince  Whipple  'appears,  as  a  body-guard,  on 
the  picture  entitled  "Washington  Crossing  the  Del 


aware/' 


L.    LATHAM. 

New  London,  Connecticut,  was  taken  by  the 
British  under  command  of  Arnold,  the  traitor,  in 
1 781.  The  American  troops  retreated  to  Fort  Gro- 
ton,  where  the  American  commander  Ledyard  was 
in  command.  The  British  came  up  and  overcame 
the  Americans  after  a  bold  resistance.  The  British 
officer  vainly  strode  into  the  ramparts  and  said, 
"  Who  commands  this  fort  ?  "  Ledyard  replied,  "  I 
once  did ;  you  do.  now,"  handing  the  Briton  his 
sword  at  the  same  time,  which  he  took  and  ran. 
through  Ledyard  up  to  the  hilt.  L.  Latham,  a  Ne 
gro  slave,  stood  near  the  American.  Scarcely  had 
,  the  British  officers  hand  left  the  murderous  hilt  when 
Latham  run  him  through  with  his  bayonet  The 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  71 

; ; 

enemy  rushed  on  him,  and  after  a  most  daring  fight 
he  fell,  not  till  pierced  by  thirty-three  bayonets.  L. 
Latham  had  been  left  at  home  by  his  master  to  care 
for  the  stock  when  the  latter  left  to  help  defend  the 
fort;  but  as  soon  as  he  could  unhitch  his  team  he 
too  made  haste  to  the  scene  of  the  fray,  and  the 
above  bold  deed  shows  how  deeply  he  felt  moved  to 
give  his  life  in  defence  of  his  country. 

John  Freeman  pinned  Major  Montgomery  to 
the  ground  while  he  was  being  lilted  upon  the  walls 
of  Fort  Griswold. 

Samuel  Charlton  was  in  the  battle  of  Monmouth 
and  several  others.  Washington  complimented  him 
for  his  bravery.  He  returned  to  his  master  in  New 
Jersey  after  the  war,  and  at  his  master's  death  Charl 
ton,  with  the  other  slaves,  was  set  free  and  given  a 
pension  during  his  life. 

James  Armistead  acted  as  scout  for  LaFayette 
in  the  Virginia  campaign.  He  returned  to  his  mas 
ter  after  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  and  was  set  free 
by  a  special  act  of  the  Virginia  Legislature. 

Negro  Soldiers  in  the  North  enlisted  with  the 
colonies  so  that  they  might  thus  get  their  freedom 
from  their  Northern  masters,  while  Negro  soldiers 
in  the  South  enlisted  with  the  British,  who  promised 
freedom  to  all  who  would  join  their  ranks. 

Did  the  Negro  Soldiers  get  their  freedom  after 
the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  over  ?  We  may  say 


72  .        A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

yes,  so  far  as  the  Northern  colonies  are  concerned, 
but  not  without  much  opposition  in  the  courts  and 
legislatures.  Virginia  also  passed  an  act  in  1783 
emancipating  the  slaves  who  had  fought  in  the 
Revolution.  Many  individual  slaves  were  emanci 
pated  by  special  acts  of  the  legislatures  for  their 
courage  and  bravery. 

George  Washington  set  his  slaves  free  by  his 
will,  and  many  slave-owners  did  the  same. 

The  slaves  who  joined  the  British  army  were  sub 
jected  to  all  sorts  of  horrors.     Thousands  died  with 
small-pox  and  other  contagious  diseases.     A  great 
number  were  sent  to  the  West  Indies  in  exchange  ' 
"  for  rum,  sugar,  coffee  and  fruit." 

LAFAYETTE   AND   KOSCIUSKO. 

LaFayette,  the  brilliant  young  Frenchman,  and 
Kosciusko,  the  generous  Pole,  volunteered  their  ser 
vices  in  behalf  of  freedom  for  the  Americans  during 
the  Revolution.  They  fought,  though,  for  the  free 
dom  of  all  Americans.  LaFayette  said  in  a  letter 
to  a  Mr.  Clarkson  :  "  I  would  never  have  drawn 
my  sword  in  the  cause  of  America,  if  I  could  have 
conceived  that  thereby  I  was  founding  a  land  of 
slavery." 

While  Visiting  America  in  1825,  he  expressed 
a  warm  desire  to  see  some  of  the  many  colored  sol4 . 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  73 


diers  whom  he  "  remembered  as  participating  with 
him  in  various  skirmishes/1  He  believed  in  free 
dom  to  all  men,  and  to  put  in  practice  his  anti- 
slavery  ideas  he  bought  a  plantation  in  French 
Guiana.  There  he  collected  all  the  "whips  and 
other  instruments  of  torture  and  punishment,  and 
made  a  bonfire  of  them  in  the  presence  of  the  as 
sembled  slaves/1 

He  Gave  One  Day  in  each  week  to  the  slaves, 
and  as  soon  as  one  could  earn  enough  he  might  pur 
chase  another  day,  and  so  on  until  he  gained  his 
freedom. 

Kosciusko  Expressed  great  sorrow  to  learn 
that  the  colored  men  who  served  in  the  Revolution 
were  not  thereby  to  gain  their  freedom.  He  left 
$20,000  in  the  hands  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  to  be 
used  in  educating  colored  children. 


74  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

• 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

v 

THE  WAR  OF  1812. 

THE  War  of  the  Revolution  ended  in  1781  at 
Yorktown.  Many  of  the  brave  Negroes  who  shed 
their  blood  and  helped  to  win  America's  liberty 
from  England  were,  as  soon  as  the  war  closed, 
put  back  into  bondage.  They  were  in  the  "  Land 
of  the  Free,"  but  themselves  slaves.  Other  trou 
bles  arose  very  soon  between  England  and  Amer 
ica.  England  still  kept  standing  armies  in  America, 
'  and  claimed  the  right  to  search  American  vessels 
for  British  sailors  who  had  deserted.  They  often 
took  off  American  seamen. 

One  Negro  and  Two  White  sailors  were  taken 
from  the  American  man-of-war  "  Chesapeake  "  after 
she  had  been  fired  upon.  Canada  gave  arms  to  and 
incited  the  Indians  in  the  Northwest  against  the 
Americans.  Finally,  in  1812,  war  was  declared, 
during. Madison's  administration. 

Negro  Troops  were  very  much  needed,  as  the 
Americans  had  a  very  poor  navy,  and  England, 
having  whipped  the  French,  was  now  ready  to  turn 
all  her  forces  against  America. 

A  Call  for  Volunteers  from  the  Union  was 


XEGRO  RACK  IX  AMERICA.  75 

< 

issued,  and  many  thousands  of  free  Negroes  an 
swered  the  call.  The  slaves  were  not  allowed  to 
enlist  in  the  militia.  Gen.  Jackson  thus  spoke  to  his 
colored  troops : 

"  To  the  Men  of  Color — Soldiers :  From  the  shores 
of  Mobile  I  collected  you  to  arms.  I  invited  you  to 
share  in  the  perils  and  to  divide  the  glory  with  your 
white  countrymen.  I  expected  much  from  you,  for 
.  I  was  not  uninformed  of  those  qualities  which  must 
render  you  so  formidable  to  an  invading  foe.  I 
knew  that  you  could  endure  hunger  and  thirst  and 
all  the  hardships  of  war.  I  knew  that  you  loved  the 
land  of  your  nativity,  and  that,  like  ourselves,  you 
had  to  defend  all  that  is  most  dear  to  man.  But  you 
have  surpassed  all  my  hopes.  I  have  found  in  you, 
united  to  these  qualities,  that  noble  enthusiasm 
which  impels  to  great  deeds. 

"  Soldiers,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  informed  of  your  conduct  on  the  present 
occasion,  and  the  voice  of  the  Representatives  of 
the  American  nation  shall  applaud  your  valor  as 
your  General  now  praises  your  ardor.  The  enemy 
is  near.  His  sails  cover  the  lakes ;  but  the  brave 
are  united,  and  if  he  finds  us  contending  among 
ourselves,  it  will  be  for  the  prize  of  valor,  and  fame, 
its  noblest  reward." 

The  Battle  of  New  Orleans,  we  will  remember, 
ended  in  defeat  for  the  British.  Over  two  thousand 


76  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

were  lost  to  the  British,  while  the  American  loss 
was  seven  killed  and  six  wounded.  There  were 
over  four  hundred  Negroes  in  this  battle,  and  they 
occupied  "  no  mean  place  and  did  no  mean  service." 
The  British  had  a  battalion  of  Negroes  from  the 
Island  of  San  Domingo  in  this  battle.  The  idea 
of  fortifying  the  city  with  cotton  is  said  to  have  been 
the  suggestion  of  a  slave  who  was  a  native  African, 
and  learned  this  mode  of  defence  from  the  Arabs. 

Mr.  D.  Lee  Child,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  states 
that  the  famous  cotton  breast-works,  recognized  the 
world  over  as  a  stroke  of  genius  on  the  part  of 
Gen.  Jackson,  was  the  suggestion  of  a  colored  man, 
a  native  African.  He  gives  some  data  from  a  Por 
tuguese  manuscript  to  prove  that  this  mode  of  de 
fence  is  in  practice  among  the  native  Africans,  who 
thus  defend  their  wives  and  children  against  the 
Arabs. 

NEGROES  IN  THE  NAVY  OF  l8l2. 

There  seemed  to  be  nb  discrimination  against 
any  class  of  citizens  joining  our  navy;  nor  is  there 
now.  About  one-fifth  of  the  marines  were  Negroes. 
That  they  did  valuable  service  is  testified  to  by 
numerous  commanders.  Read  what  Commander 
Nathaniel  Shaler  of  the  "  private  armed  "  schooner 
"  Governor  Tompkins  "  says,  in  a  letter  dated — 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  77 


"AT  SEA,  Jan.  i,  1813. 

"  My  officers  conducted  themselves  in  a  way  that 
would  have  done  honor  to  a  more  permanent  ser 
vice The  name  of  one  of  my  poor  fel 
lows  who  was  killed  ougJit  to  be  registered  in  tlic 
book  of  fame ',  and  remembered  with  reverence  as 
long  as  bravery  is  a  virtue,  He  was  a  black  man, 
by  the  name  of  JoJin  Johnson.  A  twenty-four 
pound  shot  struck  him  in  the  hip  and  took  away 
all  the  lower  part  of  his  body.  In  this  state  the 
poor,  brave  fellow  lay  on  the  deck,  and  several  times 
exclaimed  to  his  shipmates,  'Fire  away,  my  boys ; 
no  haul  a  color  down  ! '  The  other  was  a  black 
man  by  the  name  of  John  Davis,  and  was  struck  in 
much  the  same  way.  He  fell  near  me,  and  several 
times  requested  to  be  thrown  overboard,  saying  he 
was  only  in  the  way  of  others.  While  America  has 
such  tars,  she  has  little  to  fear  from  the  tyrants  of 
the  ocean.'1 

Captain  Perry  had  command  of  the  American 
fleet  on  Lake  Erie.  He  objected  to  recruits  sent 
him,  and  described  them  in  a  letter  to  Commodore 
Chauncey  as  "a  motley  set — blacks,  soldiers  and 
boys/'  Commodore  Chauncey  replied:  "I  regret 
that  you  are  not  pleased  with  the  men  sent  you. 
o  .  .  .  I  have  yet  to  learn  that  the  color  of  the 
skin,  or  the  cut  and  trimmings  of  the  coat,  can 
affect  a  man's  qualifications  or  usefulness.  I  have 


78  A  fiCTTOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


fifty  blacks  on  board  this  ship,  and  many  of  them 
are  among  my  best  men." 

Usher  Parsons,  Surgeon  of  the  "Java,"  under 
Commodore  Perry,  wrote  that  the  whites  and  blacks 
of  his  ship  messed  together,  and  there  seemed  to  be 
no  prejudice. 

The  End  of  the  War  of  1812  meant  victory  for 
America,  and  the  Negro  had  scored  a  telling  point 
in  behalf  of  his  recognition  as  an  American  citizen. 
But  still  many  were  in  slavery. 

Major  Jeffreys,  a  "regular,"  during  the  engage 
ment  of  Major-General  Andrew  Jackson  at  Mobile, 
mounted  a  horse  and  rallied  the  retreating  troops 
to  victory  against  the  British,  Avhen  the  white  com 
manders  were  forced  to  retire  and  defeat  seemed 
certain.  Gen.  Jackson  gave  him  the  title  of  Major, 
which  he  bore  till  his  death  in  Nashville,  Tenn.  He 
was  much  respected  by  all  classes.  On  one  occa 
sion  a  white  ruffian  insulted  him.  Words  ensued, 
and  Major  Jeffreys  was  forced  to  strike  the  white 
man  in  self-defence.  For  this,  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years,  this  veteran,  who  had  won  a  victory  for  his 
country  on  the  battle-field,  was  ordered  to  be  given 
"nine  and  thirty  lashes  with  a  raw  hide."  He  did 
not  recover  from  the  effects  of  this  treatment,  and 
soon  died  of  a  broken  heart. 

Jordon  Noble  was  among  the  colored  veterans 
of  the  War  of  181 2.  For  a  long  time  after  the  war 


NEGRO  RACK  IN  AMERICA.  79 


he  lived  in  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  brought  out 
on  every  great  occasion  to  give  enthusiasm,  Jor- 
don  Noble's  name  appearing  in  connection  with  any 
great  occasion  was  sufficient  guarantee  of  a  tremen 
dous  crowd.  He  was  drummer  to  the  First  Regi 
ment  Louisiana  Volunteers  in  the  Mexican  War  of 
1846,  and  led  the  attack  against  the  British  in  the 
Battle  of  New  Orleans  under  Jackson  in  1814.  He 
was  known  as  the  "  matchless  drummer/1 


80  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

EFFORTS  FOR  FREEDOM. 

The  War  of  1812  was  now  over.  America  re 
mained  at  peace  with  other  nations  about  thirty- 
two  years,  when  the  Mexican  war.  broke  out  in 
1846,  During  this  interval  a  war  of  words  between 
Americans  themselves  was  waged  ;  and  there  were 
heroes  in  this  contest,  many  of  them  Negroes  and 
former  slaves,  and  some  of  them  women,  who  merit 
equal  rank  with  the  brave  heroes  of  former  battles. 

The  Abolitionists  who  were  opposed  to  slavery, 
furnished  many  brave  hearts  and  strong  minds  from 
their  ranks.  Their  work  began  very  early  in  the 
history  of  the  colonies ;  it  continued  with  slow 
growth  for  awhile,  but  nevertheless  certain  and 
effectual.  The  Quakers  of  Pennsylvania  were  fore 
most  in  the  work  of  abolition.  They  set  nearly  all 
their  slaves  free.  Anti-slavery  societies  were  formed 
in  nearly  all  the  Northern  States. 

Benjamin  Lundy  is  mentioned  as  the  earliest 
leader  of  the  Abolitionists.  He  published  a  paper 
called  The  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation.  He 
visited  nineteen  States  of  the  Union,  travelled  up- 


XEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  81 


wards  of  five  thousand  miles  on  foot,  and  more  than 
twenty  thousand  in  other  ways,  and  held  more  than 
two  hundred  public  meetings.  Lundy's  paper  was 
not  regarded  as  very  dangerous  to  the  institution- 
of  slavery;  but  the  Journal  of  the  Times,  published 
first  at  Bennington,  Vermont,  in  support  of  J.  Q. 
Adams  for  the  presidency,  became  the  inveterate 
foe  to  slavery  under  the  editorship  of  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  who  was  mobbed  in  the  streets  of  Boston, 
and  imprisoned  for  libel  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  for 
denouncing  the  crew  of  the  ship  "  Francis  Todd," 
on  board  of  which  were  many  ill-treated  slaves 
bound  for  the  slave  marts  of  New  Orleans.  Garri 
son  and  Lundy  united  in  getting  out  The  Genius  of 
Universal  Emancipation  at  Baltimore. 

Arthur  Tappan,  before  this,  paid  Garrison's  fine, 
and  the  enemy  to  slavery  commenced  his  war  with 
more  vigor  and  zeal  than  before.  In  1831  The 
Liberator  was  first  published  by  Garrison,  and,  as 
was  his  desire,  it  continued  till  "every  slave  in 
America  was  free.'* 

A  "Colored  Man,"  James  Forten,  sent  $50 
among  the  first  twenty-five  subscriptions  that  came 
to  The  Liberator.  Garrison  thought  it  his  duty  to 
obey  God  rather  than  man,  and  he  denounced  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  as  being  a  "  Cov 
enant  with  death  and  an  agreement  with  hell,"  be 
cause  he  held  that  it  supported  slavery. 

6 


82  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

The  National  Anti-Slavery  Convention,  white, 
was  held  in  1836;  they  had  delegates  from  ten 
States,  and  1006  anti-slavery  societies  existed  in  the 
•different  States. 

The  Free  Colored  People  of  the  North  also 
held  an  anti-slavery  convention  in  1831.  Their  first 
work  was  to  get  recognition  from  the  white  organi 
zations,  who  shut  them  out  The  "Anti-Slavery 
Free  Women  of  America1'  organized  in  1837,  in 
New  York.  Mary  S.  Parker  was  President,  Ange 
lina  E.  Grimkie,  Secretary. 

Miss  Sarah  Forten  addressed  the  following 
verses  to  her  white  sisters  in  behalf  of  co-operation  : 

"  We  are  thy  sisters.     God  has  truly  said 
That  of  one  blood  all  nations  He  has  made. 
O  Christian  woman !  in  a  Christian  land, 
Canst  thou  unblushing  read  this  great  command? 
Suh*r  the  wrongs  which  wring  our  inmost  heart, 
To  draw  one  throb  of  pity  on  thy  part? 
Our  skins  may  differ,  but  from  thee  we  claim 
A  sister's  privilege  and  a  sister's  name." 

Soon  after  this,  the  free  Negroes  of  the  North 
acted  together  with  the  whites  in  the  great  fight 
against  slavery.  Negro  orators  told  in  eloquent 
style  the  sad  story  of  the  bondage  of  their  race. 

Frederick  Douglass,  once  a  slave  in  Maryland, 
electrified  the  whole  country  with  his  eloquence.  He 
stood  then,  and  now,  as  a  living,  breathing,  convinc- 


> 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  83 

ing  argument  against  the  claim  that  the  Negro's 
intellectual  capacities  fit  him  only  for  slavery.  Mr. 
Douglass  visited  Europe  and  was  received  there 
with  an  ovation,  for  the  cause  of  the  slave  had  leaped 
across  the  Atlantic  and  touched  a  sympathetic  chord 
in  many  a  British  heart. 

Many  Books  were  written  by  Negroes,  as  well 
as  whites.  Frederick  Douglass  wrote  "  My  Bondage 
and  My  Freedom;0  Bishop  Loguen,  "  As  a  Slave 
and  as  a  Freeman;*'  other  works  by  Rev.  Samuel 
R.  Ward,  Rev.  Austin  Stewart,  Solomon  Northorp, 
Dr.  Wm.  Wells  Brown,  and  others.  William  Whip- 
per  edited  an  abolition  paper,  known  as  the  National 
Reformer. 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe,  was  the  most  read,  and  the  most  effectual 
work  against  slavery. 


84  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FREDERICK  DOUGLASS. 

THIS  great  man  is  well  known  to  the  world.  He 
is  a  conspicuous  representative  of  the  talents  and 
capabilities  possessed  by  the  colored  race.  Born  a 
slave  on  a  plantation  in  Maryland,  he  has  gradually, 
by  industry  and  patient  labor,  worked  himself  to  the 
highest  rank  of  honor,  both  in  America  and  Europe. 
When  Frederick  Douglass  speaks  the  world  listens. 
He  is  as  much  quoted  as  any  living  American 
statesman. 

The  first  ten  years  of  Mr.  Douglass'  youth  were 
spent  on  one  of  the  many  plantations  of  a  rich 
planter  named  Lloyd,  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  He 
was  separated  from  his  mother,  who  only  saw  him 
at  long  intervals.  He,  with  the  other  little  slave 
boys,  grew  up  from  almost  infancy  in  their  tow 
shirts,  with  their  ash-cake  rations  and  frequent  beat 
ings,  given  them  by  a  certain  "  old  Aunt  Kate/'  who 
had  charge  of  the  children  on  the  plantation.  In 
this  wild  way,  young  Fred  was  left  to  grow  up  as 
best  he  could  among  the  rough  farm  hands  and 
without  a  mother's  care.  He  describes  his  mother 


NEGRO  RACK  IX  AMERICA. 


85 


Frederick  Douglass. 


86  A  SCHOOL  HISTOUY 


to  have  been  a  noble-looking  woman,  with  the 
deepest  of  motherly  affection  and  very  fond  of  him, 
as  shown  by  her  running  dangerous  risks  and  often 
walking  many  long  miles  to  see  him. 

At  the  age  of  ten  years  he  was  sent  by  his  "  Old 
Master  "  to  live  with  his  young  mistress,  in  Balti 
more,  who  was  connected  with  the  Lloyd  family. 
This  young  lady  became  attached  to  him,  and 
taught  him  to  read.  He  learned  to  read  the  Bible 
and  made  such  rapid  progress  that,  the  young  lady, 
feeling  very  proud  of  her  work,  told  her  husband. 
When  he  found  it  out  he  forbade  her  teaching  him 
any  further,  saying  it  was  unlawful,  "could  only 
lead  to  mischief/'  and,  "  if  you  give  a  nigger  an 
inch  he  will  take  an  ell."  Nevertheless,  Fred  soon 
became  proficient  in  reading,  and  he  learned  to 
write  by  the  models  in  his  young  master's  copy 
book.  He  bought  a  book  called  the  Columbian 
Orator,  in  which  he  found  speeches  from  Sheridan, 
Lord  Chatham,  William  Pitt  and  Fox.  These  he 
read  many  times  and  gained  much  mental  help  from 
them. 

Finally,  young  Fred,  whose  mind  now  was  en 
lightened,  became  so  dissatisfied  with  his  position 
as  a  slave  that  he  grew  morose  and  gloomy.  His 
young  mistress  chided  him  for  this  conduct,  and  it 
finally  became  necessary  to  hire  him  out.  He  soon 
found  a  good  opportunity  and  ran  away  to  New 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  87 

Bedford,  Mass.  Here  he  found  employment  and 
spent  his  leisure  time  in  study.  He  read  Scott's 
"  Lady  of  the  Lake/'  and  there  came  across  the  name 
of  Douglass,  which  he  for  the  first  time  assumed. 
He  attended  church ;  was  surprised  to  see  the  col 
ored  people  transacting*  their  own  business.  Some 
of  the  first  money  he  earned  in  New  Bedford  was 
invested  in  a  subscription  to  The  Liberator.  He 
was  not  long  in  coming  to  the  front.  His  story  of 
escape  from  slavery  was  told  in  the  various 
churches,  and  the  year  1841  found  him  on  the  stage 
before  an  anti-slavery  convention  at  Nantucket.  A 
tremendous  crowd  was  present,  and  the  wildest 
enthusiasm  prevailed.  Mr.  William  Lloyd  Garri 
son  followed  Mr.  Douglass  with  a  strong  speech 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Mr.  Douglass'  career 
thus  begun,  continued  ;  he  spoke  often  and  mightily 
for  the  cause  of  freedom.  He  became  the  leading 
orator  of  the  'time,  and  his  presence  was  sufficient 
to  draw  a  crowd  in  the  bitterest  pro-slavery  com 
munity. 

Since  freedom,  Mr.  Douglass  has  held  several 
important  positions  under  the  National  Govern 
ment.  He  was  once  Recorder  of  Deeds  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  is  now  Minister  to  the 
Haytian  Republic; 

' 

, 


88  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

LIBERIA. 

The  Republic  of  Liberia  was  founded  in  1816, 
by  the  American  Colonization  Society  as  a  place  of 
refuge  and  safety  to  the  colored  people  of  America 
who,  before  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  various 
States,  had  been  set  free  by  their  masters,  or,  through 
industry,  had  purchased  their  liberty  themselves. 
It  is  located  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  south  of 
Sierra  Leone,  and  is  very  productive  of  rice,  coffee, 
indigo,  peanuts,  arrowroot,  sugar,  pepper,  logwood, 
palm-oil,  and  cotton.  Gold  and  other  minerals  are 
found  in  considerable  quantities.  The  climate  seems 
ill  adapted  to  the  American  Negro. 

Mr.  Jehudi  Ashmun  was  the  pioneer  in  plant 
ing  the  colony,  assisted  by  Lott  Carey.  The  natives 
resisted  the  settlers,  and  for  the  first  six  years  there 
were  continual  attempts  to  drive  them  out.  Mr. 
.Ashmun's  health  finally  failed,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  leave  the  colony,  now  numbering  1200  free 
Americans,  to  themselves  in  this  new  and  wild  land. 
They  shed  bitter  tears  on  his  departure,  some  cling 
ing  even  to  his  garments.  But,  left  to  themselves, 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  89 

the  Negroes  did  not  lose  all  hope.  They  set  about 
to  found  a  goverment  similar  to  that  of  the  United 
States.  They  elected  their  first  president,  Joseph 
J.  Roberts,  organized  a  cabinet,  established  schools, 
made  labor  obligatory,  and  their  flag  is  now  recog 
nized  by  the  nations  of  Europe  and  the  United 
States. 

Its  population  is  now  over  20,000  Negroes  who 
went  from  America,  or  their  descendants.  The  in 
fluence  of  Liberia  is  exercised  over  a  million  of 
people  along  the  West  Coast  of  Africa.  They  speak 
English,  and  from  them  many  tribes  have  learned 
our  language  and  the  arts  of  civilization.  The  United 
States  has  sent  six  Ministers  to  represent  her  at 
Monrovia,  the  Liberian  capital,  viz.:  from  North 
Carolina,  Messrs.  J.  H.  Smythe,  Moses  A.  Hopkins, 
and  E.  E.  Smith;  from  New  York,  Henry  H.  Gar 
net;  Alexander  Clark,  of  Iowa,  and  C.  H.  J.  Taylor, 
of  Kansas.  The  exports  of  Liberia  aggregate  about 
three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars  annually. 

Success  has  thus  far  attended  the  country, 
though  the  climate,  atmosphere,  and  the  surround 
ings  are  most  unfavorable  and  unstimulating.  The 
fact  that  these  colored  people  have  succeeded  shows 
what  the  race  can  do  under  favorable  circumstances. 


90  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  TUB 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NAT.  TURNER  AND  OTHERS  WHO  "  STRUCK  " 
FOR  FREEDOM. 

Nathaniel  Turner  is  well  remembered  by  many 
of  the  older  people  of  Southampton,  Virginia,  as 
being  the  leader  of  the  famous  "  Nat  Turner  Insur 
rection  "  of  that  county.  He  was  an  unusually  bright 
child,  having  learned  to  read  and  write  with  such 
skill  and  rapidity  that  his  own  people  and  the  neigh 
bors  regarded  him  as  a  prodigy.  It  is  said  that  his 
mother  predicted  that  he  would  be  a  prophet  in  his 
presence  one  day,  and  he  remembered  her  predic 
tion  till  he  grew  older.  Turner  devoted  himself  to 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  condition  of 
his  people.  He  believed  his  lot  was  to  set  them 
free.  He  had  visions  of  white  and  black  spirits  fight 
ing  in  battle.  He  imagined  a  voice  spoke  thus  to 
him  in  the  vision :  "Such  is  your  luck  ;  such  you  are 
called  to  see ;  and  let  it  come  rough  or  smooth  you 
must  bear  it."  He  thought,  while  laboring  in  the 
fields,  "  he  discovered  drops  of  blood  on  the  corn,  as 
though  it  were  dew  from  heaven/'  and  saw  on  the 
leaves  of  the  trees  pictures  of  men  written  in  blood, 


NEGRO  RACK  7A~  AMERICA.  91 

A  Plan  of  Insurrection  was  devised  in  the 
month  of  February,  1831.  Nat,  together  with  four 
of  his  friends,  Sam  Edwards,  "Henry  Porter,  Nelson 
Williams,  and  Hark  Travis,  held  a  council  of  war,  as 
it  were,  in  some  lonely,  desolate  spot  in  the  woods, 
where  they  discussed  the  project  of  freeing  the 
slaves.  Nat  said,  in  his  speech,  that  his  purpose 
was  not  to  shed  blood  wantonly;  but  in  order  to 
arouse  his  brethren  he  believed  it  necessary  to  kill 
such  of  the  whites  as  would  be  most  likely  to  give 
them  trouble.  He,  like  John  Brown,  expected  his 
slave  brethren  to  join  him. 

The  Fatal  Stroke  was  given  in  the  month  of 
August,  1831.  The  first  house  visited  was  that  of 
a  Mr.  Joseph  Travis.  While  on  the  way,  a  slave 
from  this  plantation  joined  Nat's  party.  He  was  a 
giant  of  a  man,  athletic,  quick,  and  "best  man  on  the 
muscle  in  the  county/'  and  was  known  as  "  Will." 
The  slaves  were  armed  with  axes  and  knives,  and 
killed,  indiscriminately,  young  and  old,  fifty-seven 
white  persons,  before  they  were  killed  or  cap 
tured. 

Several  Artillery  Companies  from  Richmond, 
seventy  miles  off,  Petersburg,  Norfolk,  and  Ports 
mouth,  with  one  cavalry  company,  were  ordered  out 
to  take  Nat  and'  his  followers.  In  a  hand-to-hand 
struggle  Will  fell.  His  last  words  were:  "Bury 
my  axe  with  me."  Nat  escaped  with  some  others 


92  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

to  the  swamps  where  he  eluded  the  whites  for  nearly 
three  months.  After^surrendering,  he  was  brought 
into  court,  and  answered  Not  Guilty  to  the  inquiry 
of  the  judge.  The  trial  was  gone  through  with. 
Nat  was  convicted  and  condemned  to  die  on  the 
gallows.  He  received  the  sentence  with  total  in 
difference,  but  made  a  prophecy  that  on  the  day 
of  his  execution  unusual  occurrences  would  appear 
in  the  heavens;  the  sun  would  be  darkened  and  im 
mense  clouds  would  appear,  and  threatening  light 
ning.  Many  of  the  people  believed  it.  The  sheriff 
could  find  no  one  willing  to  cut  the  rope,  but  a 
drunken  sot,  crazed  by  liquor,  did  the  act  for  pay. 
The  day  of  execution,  strange  to  say,  as  Nat  had 
prophesied,  was  one  of  stormy  and  gloomy  aspect, 
with  terrible  thunder,  rain  and  lightning.  Nat  kept 
up  his  courage  to  the  last,  and  his  neck  in  the 
noose,  not  a  muscle  quivered  or  a  groan  was  uttered. 
He  was,  undoubtedly,  a  wonderful  character.  Know 
ing  as  he  did,  the  risk  he  ran,  what  an  immense 
courage  he  must  have  had  to  undertake  this  bold 
adventure.  He  was  thus  spoken  of  by  a  Mr. 
Gray,  who  interviewed  him  :  "It  has  been  said  that 
he  was  ignorant  and  cowardly,  and  his  purpose  was 
to  murder  and  rob.  It  is  notorious  that  he  was 
never  known  to  have  a  dollar  in  his  life,  to  swear 
an  oath,  or  drink  a  drop  of  spirits.  He  can  read 
and  write,  and  for  natural  intelligence  and  quick- 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  93   * 


ness  of  apprehension  is  surpassed  by  few  men  I 
have  ever  seen."  * 

Avery  Watkins,  a  colored  preacher  of  Rock- 
ingham,  North  Carolina,  and  grandfather  of  Rev, 
R.  H.  W.  Leak,  a  prominent  minister  in  the  A.  M. 
E.  Conference  of  North  Carolina,  is  said  to  have 
been  hanged  in  Rockingham,  North  Carolina, 
charged  with  indorsing  the  Nat  Turner  Insurrec 
tion,  because  in  a  private  conversation  with  his 
family  he  related  to  them  something  of  what  Nat 
Turner  was  doing  in  Southampton,  where  he  had 
lately  been  on  a  visit  to  his  grandmother.  Accord 
ing  to  the  account  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Quick,  he  was 
taken  by  a  mob  at  a  camp-meeting,  and  tried  and 
hung  in  the  same  month,  in  the  year  1831. 

Madison  Washington  was  the  name  of  a  brave 
slave  who,  being  a  part  of  a  cargo  of  135  slaves  en 
route  to  New  Orleans  from  Virginia,  when  the  boat 
was  eight  days  out  organized  the  slaves,  made  an 
onslaught  on  the  officers,  took  possession  of  the  boat 
and  carried  it  to  Nassau,  an  .English  possession, 
where  England  gave  them  protection,  refusing  to 
surrender  them  as  "murderers  and  mutineers  to 
perish  on  Southern  gibbets." 

~— —  -.--,  -.-L  ._.-.__          _™_ni_.-__r  »-.        -._.-_™_.J 

*  One  author  says :  Upwards  of  one  hundred  slaves  were  slaughtered  in 
the  Southampton  Tragedy,  many  of  them  in  cold  blood  while  walking  in  the 
streets — and  about  sixty  white  persons.  Some  of  the  alleged  conspirators 
had  their  noses  and  ears  cut  off,  the  flesh  of  their  cheeks  cut  out,  their  jaws 
broken  asunder,  and  in  that  condition  they  were  set  up  as  marks  to  be  shot  at. 


94  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

The  Kindness  of  Washington  in  dressing  the 
Captain's  wounds  and  protecting  and  caring  for  his 
wife  and  children,  marked  him  as  a  most  magnani 
mous  foe.  Only  one  white  man  of  the  twelve  com 
manding  the  ship  was  killed.  He  having  fired  into 
the  slaves  came  at  them  with  a  spike ;  thereupon  he 
was  stabbed  by  one  of  Washington's  men,  who 
wrenched  a  bowie-knife  from  the  hands  of  the  Cap 
tain.  Washington's  only  wish  was,  not  blood,  but 
freedom,  which  he  gained. 


"  THE  VIRGINIA  MAROONS." 


The  Famous  Dismal  Swamp,  some  fifty  miles 
long,  extending  from  Norfolk,  Virginia,  into  North 
Carolina,  was  a  noted  rendezvous  for  runaway  slaves 
before  the  civil  war.  It  is  estimated  that  the  slave 
property  in  this  swamp  was  worth  a  million  and  a 
half  dollars.  They  carried  on  a  secret  trade  with 
the  Virginia  merchants,  but  any  merchant  caught 
fostering  these  people  by  trading  with  them  was 
punished  severely  by  law.  The  traders  who  were 
pursued  found  shelter  among  the  maroons  of  the 
swamp.  The  chivalry  of  the  Old  Dominion  never 
dared  venture  into  this  colony,  and  blood-hounds 
sent  in  came  out  no  more.  The  Dismal  Swamp 
colony  continued  from  generation  to  generation,  de 
fying  and  outwitting  the  slave-owners  right  in  the 


NEGRO  RACE  AV  AMERICA.  95 


midst  of  one  of  the  strongest  slave-holding  commu 
nities  in  the  South. 

"  THE  AMISTAD  CAPTIVES/' 

Fifty-four  Africans  on  board  the  Spanish  slave- 
schooner  "Amistad,"  under  Captain  Ramon  Ferrer, 
on  June  28,  1839,  sailed  from  Havana,  Cuba,  for 
Porto  Principe,  another  place  on  the  island  of  Cuba, 
about  three  hundred  miles  distant  from  Havana. 
The  fifty-four  slaves  were  just  from  Lemboko,  their 
native  country  in  Africa.  Joseph  Cinquez,  son  of 
an  African  prince,  was  among  them.  He  was  shrewd, 
brave  and  intelligent.  He  looked  on  with  disgust 
at  the  cruel  treatment  given  him  and  his  fellow- 
slaves,  some  being  "  chained  down  between  the 
decks — space  not  more  than  four  feet — by  their 
wrists  and  ankles ;  forced  to  eat  rice,  sick  or  well, 
and  whipped  upon  the  slightest  provocation. M  Cin 
quez  witnessed  the  brutality  as  long  as  his  noble 
nature  would  allow,  and  when  they  were  about  five 
nights  out  from  Havana,  he  chose  a  company  of 
confederates  from  among  his  brethren  and  made  an 
assault  on  the  captain  of  the  boat,  and  took  him  and 
his  crew  prisoners.  Two  sailors  struck  out  for  land 
when  they  found  their  captain  and  cock  in  chains, 
and  left  the  boat  in  full  possession  of  the  Negroes. 
The  man  at  the  helm  (Montes)  was  ordered  to  steer 


96  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

direct  for  Africa,  under  pain  of  death.  This  he  did 
by  day,  but  at  night  would  make  towards  the  coast 
of  America.  Finally,  after  continual  wandering,  the 
vessel  was  cited  off  the  coast  of  the  United  States 
in  August.  All  the  ports  were  notified,  and  a  num 
ber  of  revenue  cutters  were  dispatched  after  her. 
She  was  finally  captured  on  the  26th  of  August, 
1839,  by  Lieut.  Gidney  of  the  United  States  Navy, 
and  the  "Amistad"  and  her  fifty-four  Africans  were 
landed  in  New  London,  Connecticut.  The  two 
Spaniards  found  on  board  the  vessel  were  examined 
by  the  United  States  officials,  and  the  whole  number 
of  Africans  were  bound  over  to  await  trial  as  pirates. 
They  being  unable  to  give  bond  of  course  went  to 
prison,  but  not  to  stay  long.  Public  sentiment  was 
everywhere  aroused  in  their  favor.  The  anti-slavery 
friends  organized  schools  among  them  ;  the  Africans 
learned  rapidly  and  soon  told  all  the  details  of  the 
capture  of  the  "  Amistad  "  in  English  from  their  own 
lips  without  an  interpreter.  The  trial  occupied  sev 
eral  months,  during  which  they  busied  themselves 
in  cultivating  a  garden  of  fifteen  acres  in  a  most 
skillful  and  intelligent  manner.  Their  grievances 
were  told  all  over  America,  and  aroused  the  sympa 
thies  of  the  people.  Finally,  the  court  decided  that 
the  " Amistad  captives"  were  not  slaves  but  free 
men.  A  thrill  of  joy  passed  through  many  an 
American  heart,  as  well  as  their  own,  and  when  the 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  97 


news  of  this  decision  spread  abroad,  subscriptions 
began  to  come  in.  Mr.  Lewis  Tappan  took  a  lively 
interest  in  the  Africans,  and  in  one  way  and  another 
soon  got  together  enough  money  to  send  them  home 
to  Africa,  where  they  so  much  wanted  to  go.  "  If 
'Merica  men  offered  me  as  much  gold  as  fill  this  cap," 
said  one,  "and  give  me  houses,  land  and  everything, 
so  dat  I  stay  in  this  country,  I  say  No  !  No  ! !  I  want 
to  see  my  father,  my  mother,  my  brother,  my  sister.'* 
One  said,  "  We  owe  everything  to  God ;  He  keeps 
us  alive,  and  makes  us  free.  When  we  go  home  to 
Mendi,  we  tell  our  brethren  about  God,  Jesus  Christ 
and  Heaven."  One  was  asked,  if  he  was.  again 
captured  and  about  to  be  sold  into  slavery,  would 
he  murder  the  captain  and  cook  of  another  vessel, 
and  if  he  wouldn't  pray  for  rather  than  kill  them  ? 
Cinquez  heard  it  and  replied,  shaking  his  head, 
"  Yes  ;  I  would  pray  for  'em  and  kill  'em,  too." 

These  people  were  sent  to  Sierra  Leone  in  Africa 
in  company  with  five  sainted  missionaries.  Great 
Britain  sent  them  from  Sierra  Leone  to  their  homes, 
and  thus  their  efforts  for  freedom  were  successful. 


98  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ANTI-SLAVERY  AGITATION. 

Slavery  or  No  Slavery  was  the  question  now 
•  before  the  American  people.  Millions  of  tracts, 
pamphlets,  circulars  and  newspapers,  besides  the 
ministers  and  orators  of  the  North,  were  now  mak 
ing  sentiment  against  slavery.  The  people  of  the 
North  were  aroused. 

The  Census  of  1850  gave  a  population  of  three 
and  one-half  million  slaves  in  America,  and  they 
lived  in  the  States  of  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  Mary 
land,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  Arkansas,  Utah  Territory,  Kentucky,  Mis 
souri  and  Tennessee.  Soon  after  this  New  Jersey, 
Delaware  and  Maryland  freed  their  slaves. 

The  Political  Parties  were  forced  to  take  up 
the  slavery  question.  The  politicians  were  wily, 
and  yielded  to  both  sides  for  policy's  sake.  The 
South  opposed  every  legislative  act  that  favored  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  The  great  Daniel  Webster 
hesitated  to  take  a  decided  stand  either  way,  and  in 
1858  Charles  Sumner,  a  staunch  anti-slavery  man, 


NEGRO  RACE  AV  AMERICA.  99 


came  to  the  Senate  from  Massachusetts  in  Web 
ster's  place.  Mr.  Sumner  said  more  and  did  more 
for  the  freedom  of  the  slave  than  any  of  the  great 
statesmen  of  his  time.  He  offered  no  compromise, 
and  asked  only  for  liberty  to  the  slaves. 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law*  allowed  masters  to 
capture  their  slaves  in  any  State  of  the  Union. 
Hence  arose  the  underground  railroad,. which  was 
a  secret  system  for  transporting  runaway  slaves  into 
Canada.  Some  slaves  were  sent  in  boxes,  and  some 
carried  in  the  night  from  one  person  to  another  un 
til  they  reached  the  Canadian  line.  A  great  many 
runaway  slaves  made  good  their  escape  through 
this  system.^ 

New  States  coming  into  the  Union  caused  great 
discussion  as  to  whether  they  should  come  in  as  free 
States  or  slave  States.  Civil  war  broke  out  in 
Kansas  between  the  inhabitants  of  that  Territory 
who  wanted,  and  those  who  did  not  want,  slaves. 
The  anti-slavery  people  were  led  by  John  Brown, 
afterwards  the  leader  in  an  attempt  to  capture  the 
arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia,  and  arm  the 
slaves.  He  was  hung  as  an  insurrectionist. 

Opposition  in  the  North  to  the  Abolitionists 


*  It  was  Chief  Justice  Taney  who,  in  giving  his  decision  on  this  law  in  the 
Dred  Scott  case,  said:  "A  Negio  has  no  rights  which  a  white  man  is  bound 
to  respect." 

f  See  Underground  Railroadt  by  William  Still. 


100  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

was  manifested  by  the  commercial  people,  who  saw 
nothing  in  the  whole  question  but  the  dollars  and 
cents  which  they  hoped  to  make  out  of  the  slave's 
products  of  cotton,  tobacco,  sugar,  and  rice.  But 
the  agitation  continued. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  endorsed  by  the  anti-slavery 
people,  was  proposed  as  the  Republican  candidate 
for  President  in  1860,  whereupon  South  Carolina 
declared  if  Lincoln  was  elected  she  would  secede 
from  the  Union.  Lincoln  was  elected,  and  accord 
ingly  South  Carolina  seceded,  and  was  soon  followed 
by  the  other  slave-holding  States.  . 


RACK  JX  AMERICA.  101 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

EXAMPLES  OF  UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD 

WORK. 

WILLIAM  and  Ellen  Craft  were  slaves  in  the  State 
of  Georgia.  Their  hearts  yearned  for  freedom. 
Their  minds  were  at  once  set  to  work  to  formulate 
some  plan  of  escape.  It  was  at  last  settled. 
Ellen  being  very  fair,  while  William  was  dark, 
was  to  pass  for  a  young  invalid  planter,  William 
being  her  slave  and  servant.  Not  being  able 
to  write,  and  without  beard,  she  put  her  hand 
into  a  sling  and  tied  her  face  up;  after  putting  on 
male  attire  they  were  ready  to  start  out.  William 
attended  to  all  the  business,  such  as  registering  at 
the  hotels  and  buying  tickets.  They  stopped  at  a 
first-class  hotel  in  Charleston,  and  also  in  Richmond, 
finally  reaching  Philadelphia  safely.  Ellen  gave  up 
her  male  attire,  untied  her  face,  released  her  arm 
from  the  sling,  and  her  speech  came  to  her.  They 
put  themselves  under  the  care  of  the  Abolitionists, 
were  sent  to  Boston,  but  after  the  passage  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  attempts  were  made  to  capture 
and  put  them  back  into  slavery  again.  They  were 
at  last  sent  to  England,  where  they  remained  for 
nearly  twenty  years;  then  they  returned  and  made 
their  home  in  Savannah,  Georgia,  where,  we  learn, 

^^ 

they  are  still  living. 


102      -  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XX, 

THE  SLAVE  POPULATION  OF  1860. 

IN  the  sixteen  slave  States  there  were  3,950,000 
slaves  in  1860,  and  251,000  free  colored  people. 
Nearly  3,000,000  of  the  slaves  were  in  the  rural 
districts  of  the  South ;  and  the  slave  products  of 
cotton,  tobacco,  rice,  sugar-cane,  hemp,  and  molasses, 
amounted  to  about  $136,505,435.  These  products, 
made  by  slave  labor,  formed  the  basis  of  Southern 
prosperity.  The  war  of  the  rebellion  which  com 
menced  in  the  following  year,  was  destined  to  shake 
the  very  foundation  of  Southern  civilization.  From 
a  people  unaccustomed  to  hard  work,  it  was  to  take 
away  those  who  worked  for  them,  and  those  same 
people  who  were  to  be  taken  away  were  to  be  re 
galed  in  the  priceless  boon  of  citizenship.  Let  us 
now  study  some  of  the  efforts  of  Negroes  in  help 
ing  to  achieve  this  citizenship,  after  which  we  shall 
see  how  well  they  deserved  to  be  citizens. 


XEGKO  RA  CIS  LV  A  M  ERIC  A .  1 03 


• 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

. 

THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

ENLISTMENT   OF   NEGROES. 


The  Secession  of  South  Carolina  and  the  other 
Southern  States  was  the  signal'for  war.  True  to  its 
declaration  to  do  so,  this  State  seceded  when  Lincoln 
was  inaugurated  in  1861.  Fort  Sumter\vas  fired  on 
by  the  Confederates  and  captured.  The  North  was 
divided  on  the  question  of  slavery,  and  the  Govern 
ment  at  Washington  was  slow  in  making  any  efforts 
to  stop  the  rebellion.  A  few  troops  were  sent  into 
the  field  with  the  hope  of  frightening  the  South. 

The  Battle  of  Bull  Run  was  fought,  and  disgrace 
fully  lost  to  the  Union.  It  took  some  losses  and 
failures  to  make  the  North  believe  the  South  would 
fight.  Finally,  after  the  defeat  at  Bull  Run, 

Lincoln  issued  a  Proclamation  for  75,000 
volunteers.  But  the  motto  was,  no  blacks  need  apply. 
There  was  great  prejudice  in  the  North  against  the 
Negro's  enlisting  to  fight  for  his  freedom,  and  the 
President  was  also  opposed  to  it. 

The  Confederates  were  already  forming  Negro 
companies  for  the  defence  of  Richmond  and  build- 


104  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

ing  fortifications.  The  third  and  fourth  regiments 
of  Georgia  showed  one  Negro  company  as  they 
passed  through  Augusta  en  route  to  Virginia.  Free 
Negroes  enlisted  on  the  Confederate  side  at  New 
Orleans  and  Memphis.  They  were  highly  spoken 
of  by  the  Southern  papers.  But  the  North  seemed 
to  think  still  that  to  put  the  Negro  in  the  Union  blue 
would  disgrace  that  uniform. 

General  Hunter,  stationed  at  Port  Royal,  South 
Carolina,  did  not  agree  with  Congress  nor  the  Presi 
dent.  When  he  succeeded  General  Sherman,  in 
structions  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  "  accept  the 
services  of  all  loyal  persons  "  were  handed  him  ;  and 
he  seized  this  opportunity  (there  being  nothing  said 
about  Negroes)  to  enlist  a  Negro  regiment  of  fugi 
tive  slaves.  His  conduct  was  inquired  into  by  Mr. 
Wickliffe,  a  Congressman  from  Kentucky,  and  a 
resolution  of  censure  was  offered. 

Major-General  Hunter  replied  to  the  inquiry 
made  in  Congress  as  to  his  enlisting  slaves,  that  the 
Negroes  seemed  to  be  the  only  loyal  people  in  that 
locality,  and  they  were  anxious  to  fight  for  their 
freedom,  and  gave  every  evidence  of  making  "  in 
valuable  auxiliaries."  They  knew  the  country  and 
were  accustomed  to  the  climate. 

General  Phelps,  stationed  in  Louisiana  about 
this  time,  was  making  a  bold  fight  for  the  enlistment 
of  Negroes  in  and  around  New  Orleans,  He  was 


XEGRO  RACE  AV  AMERICA.  105 


, 


opposed  by  General  Benj.  F.  Butler,  who  protested 
so  strongly  against  it  that  finally  General  Phelps 
was  forced  to  resign  and  return  to  his  home  in  Ver 
mont.  The  sentiment  of  the  Northern  army  seemed 
to  have  a  conspicuous  leaning  towards  admitting  the 
right  of  the  South  to  hold  slaves.  General  Butler 
refused  the  runaway  slaves  quarters  in  his  head 
quarters.  McClellan,  a  reeking  failure  as  a  com 
mander,  said,  with  others,  that  if  he  thought  he  was 
fighting  to  free  the  "  niggers  "  he  would  sheath  his 
sword.  He  soon  failed  in  the  Virginia  campaign  and 
was  forced  to  resign. 

Mr.  Stevens  proposed  a  bill  in  Congress  author 
izing  the  President  to  "raise  and  equip  150,000  sol 
diers  of  African  descent.'*  Meanwhile  Col.  Thomas 
W.  Higginson  and  Col.  Montgomery,  with  a  com 
pany  of  Negro  troops  were  ascending  the  St.  John 
River,  in  Florida,  where  he  captured  Jacksonville, 
which  had  been  abandoned  by  white  Union  Troops. 
Among  those  who  favored  Mr.  Stevens'  measure 
were  Horace  Greeley  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who 
seemed  to  have  been  convinced  of  the  worth  of  the 
colored  troops  from  the  testimony  of  such  men  as 
Phelps,  Higginson,  Hunter,  and  Montgomery,  who 
had  already  seen  what  Negro  troops  could  accom 
plish. 

Public  Sentiment  was  being  aroused  on  the  sub 
ject.  The  newspapers  discussed  the  matter.  The 


106  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

New  York  Tribune  said:  "Drunkenness,  the  bane 
of  our  army,  does  not  exist  among  the  black  troops." 
11  Nor  have  I  yet  discovered  the  slightest  ground  of 
inferiority  to  white  troops/'  Mr.  Lincoln  very  soon 
changed  his  mind,  Congress  gave  its  consent,  and 
the  order  went  forth  to  enlist  Negroes  in  defence  of 
the  Union. 

The  Right  to  Fight  for  what  they  thought. would 
ultimately  end  in  their  freedom  was  hailed  with 
shouts  of  joy  wherever  the  tidings  reached  the  Ne 
groes. 

At  Newbern,  N.  C.,  they  made  a  great  demon 
stration.  The  enlisting  places  at  New  Orleans  and 
other.  Southern  cities  then  in  the  hands  of  the  Fed 
erals  were  the  scenes  of  the  wildest  confusion  in  the 
mad  rush  of  the  colored  people  to  register  their 
names  on  the  army  records. 

A  Difficulty  arose  in  getting  sufficient  arms  for 
all  the  colored  troops;  and  a  further  difficulty  was 
to  be  met  in  selecting  white  officers  who  had  the 
courage  to  brave  public  sentiment  and  take  the  com 
mand  of  Negro  troops.  Negro  daring  and  excel 
lency  on  the  battle-field  soon  broke  down  these 
flimsy  weaknesses  of  the  white  officers,  and  the  sum 
mer  of  1863  found  over  100,000  Negroes  in  the 
Union  ranks,  and  over  50,000  armed  and  equipped 
on  the  fields  of  battle. 

Their  Pay  was  seven  dollars  per  month,  with 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  107 



board  and  clothing.  The  whites  received  thirteen 
dollars  per  month  with  board  and  clothing.  Thus 
the  former  slave  went  forth  to  meet  his  master  on 
the  battle-field,  sometimes  to  capture  or  be  captured  ; 
sometimes  to  fall  side  by  side,  one  pierced  with  the 
Southern,  the  other  with  the  Northern  bayonet. 


EMANCIPATION    PROCLAMATIONS. 

Two  Proclamations  were  issued  by  Mr.  Lin 
coln.  The  first,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1862,  de 
fined  the  issue  of  the  war  to  be  "  for  the  object  of 
practically  restoring  the  constitutional  relation  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  each  of  the  States, 
and  the  people  thereof."  It  offered,  first,  to  pay  the 
masters  for  their  slaves  and  colonize  them  in 
America  or  Africa.  Second,  it  proposed  to  free  the 
slaves  of  those  persons  and  States  then  engaged  in 
actual*  rebellion.  Third,  it  offered  to  pay  from  the 
Federal  treasury  loyal  masters  who  had  lost  their 


slaves  in  and  durincf  the  rebellion. 

o 

The  Second  Proclamation  was  issued  January 


i,  1863,  and  is  the  °ne  we  celebrate.  This  measure 
was  urged  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  by  the  Abolitionists 
and  those  who  wished  the  Negro  free.  It  did  not 
free  all  the  slaves.  Some  counties  were  left  out. 
Though  the  Abolitionists  saw  in  the  proclamation 
the  consummation  of  their  prayers  and  hopes,  Mr. 


108  'A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet  evidently  regarded  the 
proclamation  as  a  war  measure,  very  necessary  un 
der  the  circumstances,  to  shorten  the  war.  The 
South  would  have  surrendered  in  half  the  time  had 
not  a  large  number  of  slaves  remained  on  the  plan 
tations  raising  supplies  for  the  Confederate  army, 
and  supporting  and  protecting  their  masters'  fami 
lies. 


NEGRO  RACE  L\  AMERICA.  109 

. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

EMPLOYMENT  OF  NEGRO  SOLDIERS. 

Mr.  Williams  Says :  "  All  history,  ancient  and 
modern,  Pagan  and  Christian,  justified  the  conduct 
of  the  Federal  Government  in  the  employment  of 
slaves  as  soldiers.  Greece  had  tried  the  experiment, 
and  at  the  battle  of  Marathon  there  were  two  regi 
ments  composed  of  slaves.  The  beleagured  city  of 
Rome  offered  freedom  to  her  slaves  who  would  vol 
unteer  as  soldiers,  and  at  the  battle  of  Cannrc  a  regi 
ment  of  Roman  slaves  made  Hannibal's  cohorts  reel 
before  their  unequalled  courage.  Negro  officers,  as 
well  as  soldiers,  had  shared  the  perils  and  glories  of 
the  campaigns  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte ;  and  even 
the  Royal  Guard  at  the  Court  of  Imperial  France 
had  been  mounted  with  black  soldiers.  In  two  wars 
in  North  America,  Negro  soldiers  had  followed  the 
fortunes  of  military  life  and  won  the  applause  of 
white  patriots  on  two  continents.  So,  then,  all  his 
tory  furnished  a  precedent  for  the  guidance  of  the 
United  States  Government  in  the  civil  war  of 
America/' 

Just  How  Well  the  Negro  Soldiers  Behaved 

may  be  gathered  from  a  description  of 

• 


110  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE      * 

SOME  FAMOUS  BATTLES  IN  WHICH  NEGROES  FOUGHT. 

Port  Hudson,  May  27,  1863.  The  Negro  regi 
ment  under  Col.  Nelson  was  assigned  the  difficult 
task  of  taking  this  fort,  which  seemed  almost  im 
pregnable.  It  was  situated  on  a  high  bluff  overlook 
ing  the  river  in  front.  Around  the  sides  and  rear, 
close  under  the  bluff,  ran  a  bayou  twelve  feet  deep 
and  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  wide.  Looking  out 
from  openings  in  the  embankment  were  the  grim 
mouths  of  many  deadly  cannon.  They  were  arranged 
so  as  to  make  a  straight  raking  charge  on  the  front 
of  any  approaching  force,  while  a  score  and  a  half 
of  heavy  guns  were  to  cut  down  the  left  and  right 
wings  with  grape  and  canister. 

Having  marched  All  Night,  the  "  Black  Regi 
ment  "  stacked  arms  at  5  A.M.  Cne  hour  was  given 
for  rest  and  breakfast.  Many,  completely  overcome 
by  the  enervating  heat  and  dust,  sank  down  "  in  their 
tracks  "  and  slept. 

The  Officers  received  their  instructions  at  5.30, 
and  at  6  o'clock  the  bugle  sounded.  "  Fall  in  !"  was 
heard  ringing  out  among  the  soldiers  ;  and  the  scene 
reminded  one  more  of  a  holiday  party  than  a  march 
to  death.  The  troops  seemed  anxious  to  fight.  The 
white  troops  looked  on  with  uneasiness  and  doubts 
concerning  the  Negro's  courage.  The  Confederates 
in  the  fort  ridiculed  the  idea  that  Negroes  were  to 
charge  them. 


NEGRO  RA  CE  IN  AMERICA.  Ill 


The  Negro  Regiment  moved  towards  the  fort. 
There  was  death-like  silence,  save  the  tramp  of  sol 
diers  and  the  tap  of  drum.  "  Forward;  double-quick, 
march  1"  rang  out  along  the  line;  not  a  piece  was 
fired.  Now  the  Confederate  guns  open  on  the  left ; 
one  shell  kills  twelve  men.  "  Right  about  /"  was  the 
command ;  the  regiment  wheeled  to  the  right  for 
about  three  hundred  yards,  then  coolly  and  steadily 
faced  the  enemy  again  by  companies. 

Six  Deathly  charges  were  thus  made,  when  Col. 
Nelson  reported  to  Gen.  Dwight  his  inability  to  take 
the  fort  because  of  the  bayou  being  too  deep  for 
the  men  to  wade.  Gen.  Dwight  replied  :  "  I  shall 
consider  that  he  has  accomplished  nothing  unless 
he  takes  those  guns.'*  The  soldiers  saw  it  was 
impossible,  as  well  as  Col.  Nelson,  yet  "  again  the 
order  to  charge  "  was  obeyed  with  a  shout. 

Captain  Andre  Callioux  commanded  Company 
E  in  the  next  charge.  He  marched  his  colored 
brethren  over  the  dead  bodies  of  their  comrades, 
crying,  "Follow  me!"  and  while  flashing  his  sword 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  belching  Confederate  guns, 
he  was  smitten  down  in  front  of  his  company  by  a 
shell. 

Color-Sergeant  Anselmas  Planciancois  said 
to  Col.  Nelson,  before  the  fight: "  Colonel,  I  will  bring 
back  these  colors  to  you  in  honor,  or  report  to  God 
the  reason  why."  It  was  now  between  1 1  and  1 2 


112  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  fight  began  at  7  A.M. 
The  gallant  Callioux  was  lying  dead  on  the  field. 
His  men  now  charged  almost  in  the  mouth  of  the 
Confederate -guns.  Planciancois  bore  the  flag  in 
front.  A  shell  strikes  the  staff  and  blows  off  half 
of  the  brave  sergeant's  head ;  he  falls,  wrapped  in 
the  folds  of  his  nation's  flag,  his  brains  scattered 
amid  them,  but  still  his  strong  grip  holds  the  staff 
even  in  death,  till 

Corporal  Heath  catches  it  up  to  bear  it  to  the 
front  again.  Pierced  by  a  musket-ball  which  split 
his  head,  he,  too,  falls  upon  the  body  of  the  brave 
Planciancois.  Still  another  corporal  lifts  the  flag 
and  bears  it  through  the  fray.  And  thus  the  Negro 
troops,  on  almost  their  very  first  trial,  silenced  all 
clamors  as  to  their  bravery.  Port  Hudson  was  not 
taken  then,  but  the  reason  for  defeat  lay  not  in  a 
lack  of  unrivalled  daring  and  heroic  courage  on  the 
part  of  the  Negro  troops.  The  loss  was  37  killed 
and  wounded,  and  missing  271. 

The  New  York  Times  says  of  this  battle:  "  Gen. 
Dwight,  at  least,  must  have  had  the  idea  not  only  that 
they  (Negro  troops)  were  men,  but  something  more 
than  men  from  the  terrific  test  to  which  he  put  their 
valor.  The  deeds  of  heroism  performed  by  these, 
men  were  such  as  the  proudest  white  men  might 
emulate.  Their  colors  are  literally  bespattered  with 
blood  and  brains. 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  113 

"The  color-sergeant  of  the  ist  Louisiana,  on 
being  mortally  wounded,  hugged  the  colors  to  his 
breast,  when  a  struggle  ensued  between  the  two  color 
corporals  on  each  side  of  him  as  to  who  should  have 
the  honor  of  bearing  the  sacred  standard.  One  black 
lieutenant  actually  mounted  the  enemy's  works  four 
times.  ....  Although  repulsed  in  an  attempt  which 
— situated  as  things  were — was  all  but  impossible, 
these  regiments,  though  badly  cut  up,  were  still  on 
hand,  and  burning  with  a  passion  ten  times  hotter 
from  their  fierce  baptism  of  blood/' 

General  Banks  wrote,  concerning  the  t(  Black 
Regiment"  at  Port  Hudson  :  "  It  gives  me  pleasure 
to  report  that  they  answered  every  expectation. 
Their  conduct  was  heroic."  The  success  of  the  Ne 
gro  troops  at  Port  Hudson  rang  in  the  halls  of  Con 
gress,  in  the  lecture-room,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  news 
papers  ;  poets  sang  of  it,  and  Northern  orators  vied 
with  each  other  in  eloquent  pictures  of  the  scene  of 
that  great  fight  which  settled  the  question  as  to  the 
Negro's  fitness  for  the  army. 

Milliken's  Bend,  6th  of  June,  1863.  The  Con 
federates  came  up  from  Louisiana,  about  3000  strong. 
They  rested  over  night,  while  the  Federals  were 
collecting  at  the  temporary  fort  in  the  bend  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  Union  men  of  war  "  Choctaw  "  and 
"Lexington  "  appeared,  coming  up  the  river  before 

daylight,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  June,  which 

8 


il4  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THti 

was  the  time  the  Confederates  made  their  first 
charge,  yelling,  "  No  quarter  to  Negroes  and  their 
officers !"  The  Negro  troops  were  without  training, 
being  lately  recruited,  but  they  fought  like  veterans. 
The  Confederates  fell  back  under  their  heavy  fire 
in  front,  and  charged  the  Union  flanks.  Upon  this 
the  Union  troops  found  shelter  from  the  gun-boats, 
and  broadside  after  broadside  made  the  Confederates 
hasten  away. 

An  Eye  Witness'  Description:  "As  before 
stated,  the  Confederates  drove  our  force  towards 
the  gun-boats,  taking  colored  men  prisoners.  This 
so  enraged  them  that  they  rallied  and  charged  the 
enemy  more  heroically  and  desperately  than  has 
been  recorded  during  the  war.  It  was  a  genuine 
bayonet  charge,  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  that  has 
never  occurred  to  any  extent  during  this  pro 
longed  conflict.  Upon  both  sides  men  were  killed 
with  the  butts  of  muskets.  White  and  colored 
men  were  lying  side  by  side  pierced  by  bayon 
ets,  and  in  some  instances  transfixed  to  the  earth. 
One  brave  man  took  his  former  master  prisoner, 
and  brought  him  into  camp  with  great  gusto.  A 
Confederate  prisoner  made  a  particular  request  that 
his  own  Negroes  should  not  be  placed  over  him  as 
a  guard. 

"  Union  loss  one  hundred  killed,  five  hundred 
wounded,  mostly  Negroes.  Confederate  loss  two 


XEQRO  RA  CE  IN  A  MERICA .  115 


hundred  killed,  five  hundred  wounded,  two  hundred 
taken  prisoners,  and  two  cannon." 

The  battles  of  Fort  Pillow  and  Milliken's  Bend, 
made  many  friends  for  the  colored  soldiers.  Their 
soldierly  qualities  were  on  trial ;  the  experiment  of 
arming  Negroes  to  fight  for  the  Union  was  being 
tried.  This  the  colored  troops  seemed  to  realize, 
and  it  stimulated  them  to  do  their  very  best.  They 
fought  courageously,  and  fully  satisfied  all  doubts 
concerning  their  valor. 

The  Draft  Riot  broke  out  in  New  York  in  July, 
1863.  An  order  came  from  Washington,  authoriz 
ing  soldiers  to  be  drafted  in  New  York  City.  The 
Democratic  newspapers  ridiculed  the  idea  of  the 
people's  being  drafted  into  service  "  to  fight  the 
battles  of  '  niggers  and  Abolitionists/  "  General 
Wood  finally  put  down  the  riot  after  killing  thir 
teen  of  the  rioters,  wounding  eighteen  and  taking 
twenty-four  prisoners.  "They  had  burned  the 
Colored  Orphan's  Asylum,  hung  colored  men  to 
lamp-posts,  and  destroyed  the  property  of  this  class 
of  citizens  with  impunity." 

The  54th  Massachusetts  was  the  first  colored 
regiment  organized  in  the  free  States,  Colonel  Shaw 
commander.  It  played  a  prominent  part  in  the 
attempt  to  take  Fort  Wagner^  near  Charleston, 
S.  C.  It  marched  two  days  and  nights  through 
swamps  and  drenching  rains  to  be  in  time  for  the 
assault  Soaking  wet,  muddy,  hungry  and  fatigued, 


116 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


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NEGRO  RA CE  IX  AMERICA.  1 1 7 


they  reached  the  field  in  time  and  gladly  accepted 
the  "  post  of  honor  and  danger,"  immediately  in 
front.  After  a  five  minutes*  rest  they  double- 
quicked  a  half-mile  to  the  fort,  where,  after  a  most 
gallant  and  desperate  fight,  Sergeant  William  //. 
Carney  planted  the  regimental  flag  on  the  works. 
Nearly  all  the  officers  of  the  regiment  were  killed, 
and  it  was  led  off  by  a  boy — Lieut.  Higginson. 

"  Sergeant  Carney,"  says  an  eye  witness,  "  re 
ceived  a  severe  wound  in  the  thigh,  but  fell  only  upon 
his  knees.  He  planted  the  flag  upon  the  parapet, 
lay  on  the  outer  slope,  that  he  might  get  as  much 
shelter  as  possible  ;  there  he  remained  for  over  half 
an  hour,  till  the  second  brigade  came  up.  He  kept 
his  colors  flying  till  the  second  conflict  was  ended. 
When  our  forces  retired,  he  followed,  creeping  on 
one  knee,  still  holding  the  flag.'*  When  he  entered 
the  hospital  (bleeding  from  one  wound  in  the  head 
and  another  in  the  thigh)  "his  wounded  comrades 
cheered  him,"  and  he  said,  "  Boys,  the  old  flag  never 
toncJied  the  ground'' 

The  Negro  Soldiers.  The  sentiment  against 
the  Negro  at  the  North  had  somewhat  abated  in  the 
face  of  the  irresistible  bravery  as  exhibited  by  Ne 
gro  troops  at  Wagner  and  Port  Hudson.  The 
North  saw  that  wonderful  results  could  be  achieved 
by  Negro  soldiers. 

The  Confederates  exchanged  before  this  some 
Union  officers,  but  refused  to  exchange  Negroes. 


118  A  SCHOOL  mSTOR  Y  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XXIII. ' 

FORT  PILLOW. 

THIS  fort  is  located  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  about  fifty  miles  above  Memphis,  in 
Tennessee.  It  crowned  the  top  of  a  steep  bluff, 
covered  with  trees  and  shrubbery.  Major  L.  F. 
Booth  was  in  command  with  a  garrison  of  557  men, 
262  of  whom  were  colored.  There  were  six  artil 
lery  pieces.  Gen.  N.  B.  Forest,  commanding  a  large 
force  of  Confederate  cavalry,  appeared  at  the  fort  at 
sunrise  on  the  I3th  of  April,  1864,  and  demanded 
its  surrender.  Major  Booth  drew  up  his  force  in 
the  intrenchments  around  the  parapet.  Thus  a  con 
tinual  firing  was  kept  up  till  the  afternoon,  during 
which  Major  Booth  was  killed.  Major  Bradford 
took  command.  The  firing  ceased  for  the  guns  to 
cool  off  and  to  be  cleaned.  Meanwhile,  under  a 
flag  of  truce,  Gen.  Forest  demanded  the  surrender 
of  the  fort,  stating,  l(  If  I  have  to  storm  your  works, 
you  may  expect  no  quarter."  The  Confederates, 
taking  advantage  of  the  truce,  were  hiding  in  the 
trenches  from  which  Major  Bradford  had  with 
drawn  his  men  into  the  fort.  A  few  moments  later 


XEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  119 

they  rushed  in  with  their  deafening  yell — "  No 
quarter !" 

The  Union  troops  offered  stubborn  resistance, 
but,  with  superior  numbers  crowding  in  from  front, 
rear,  and  sides,  they  were  overcome  and  surren 
dered. 

The  War  in  the  West  was  now  about  at  an 
end.  Sherman  set  out  upon  his  famous  march 
through  Georgia  ;  Grant,  having  opened  up  the  Mis 
sissippi,  marched  on  Richmond,  which  had  now  be 
come  the  strategic  point  of  the  war.  McClellan, 
Hooker,  Meade,  and  Burnside,  had  failed  in  their 
assaults  on  this  the  Confederate  capital.  All  hopes 
were  now  centred  on  Grant.  To  him  was  assigned 
the  task,  and  this  brings  us  to  the 

CAMPAIGN    IN  VIRGINIA,  1864. 


Twenty  Thousand  Strong  marched  the  Negro 
troops  into  the  campaign  of  Virginia.  On  their  way 
they  passed  through  Washington.  Mr.  Lincoln, 
with  General  Burnsides  and  friends,  reviewed  the 
long  line  from  the  balcony  of  Willard's  Hotel.  As 
the  long,  heavy  columns  filed  past,  the.President  ac 
knowledged  their  almost  continuous  "  Hurrah  for 
Lincoln !  "  He  was  deeply  touched  by  the  spectacle ; 
there  were  tears  in  many  eyes  that  saw  the  brave 
thousands  of  sable  sons,  but  a  little  while  ago  slaves. 


120  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

now  gallantly  marching  to  defend  the  Union.  It 
was  a  scene  never  forgotten  by  those  who  saw  it. 

With  Equal  Pay,  a  recognition  as  soldiers  by 
Mr.  Davis,  and  a  brilliant  record,  marched  the  Negro 
troops  into  the  Virginia  campaign.  Gen.-  Butler,  who 
was  now  convinced  by  the  scenes  at  Port  Hudson, 
Forts  Pillow  and  Wagner,  of  the  Negro's  capacity 
for  fighting,  was  stationed  at  Bermuda  Hundreds 
with  a  large  corps  of  Negro  troops. 

Grant  threw  his  Forces  across  the  Rapidan 
and  met  the  Confederates  in  The  Wilderness.  He  left 
Gen.  Ferrero  with  his  colored  croops  to  protect  his 
wagon  train  in  the  rear.  Ewdl  with  the  Confede 
rate  cavalry  whipped  around  in  search  of  these  sup 
plies.  Gen.  Ferrero  with  his  Negro  troops  met 
Ewell.  The  Confederates  made  a  bold  charge  and 
captured  twenty-seven  wagons.  The  hungry  sol 
diers  prepared  to  feast  on  their  plunder. 

Gen.  Ferrero  opened  fire.  The  Confederates 
charged  again,  giving  the  colored  troops  their  very 
best,  but  the  Negro  regiments  did  not  budge.  Gen. 
Ferrero  then  ordered  his  troops  to  charge,  and,  in 
this  the  first  fight  between  Negro  troops  and  Vir 
ginians,  the  Confederates  were  driven  "  as  the  gale 
drives  chaff/'  "  It  was  the  first  time  at  the  East/' 
says  Gen.  Badeau,  in  his  Military  History  of  Grant, 
"  when  the  colored  troops  had  been  engaged  in  any 
important  battle,  and  the  display  of  soldierly  quali- 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  121 

ties  won  a  frank  acknowledgment  from  both  troops 
and  commanders,  not  all  of  whom  had  before  been 
willing  to  look  upon  Negroes  as  comrades.  But 
after  that  time,  white  soldiers  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  were  not  displeased  to  receive  the  support 
of  the  black  ones ;  they  had  found  the  support  worth 
having." 


122  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


i  CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AROUND  PETERSBURG. 

HERE  it  was  that  Negro  soldiers  covered  them 
selves  with  merited  glory  in  the  presence  of  white 
troops  on  both  sides;  surprising  in  their  daring  to 
officers  trained  at  West  Point,  and  that,  too,  on  the 
very  soil  where  slavery  first  made  its  appearance  in 
this  country. 

The  City  of  Petersburg  lies  on  the  Appomattox 
river  near  the  James,  and  not  far  from  Richmond, 
with  which  it  has  railroad  connection,  and  formed 

• 

the  base  of  supplies  up  the  James  for  the  troops  in 
defence  of  Richmond.  It  therefore  became  an  im 
portant  point  to  reduce.  It  was  strongly  fortified 
on  all  sides  for  miles  out. 

The  Task  of  Taking  the  "  Cockade  City,"  as 
it  was  called,  fell  to  Gen.  Smith,  assisted  by  Gen. 
Kautz,  coming  up  on  the  east,  Brooks  following 
Kautz;  Martindale,  who  was  to  move  up  the  Appo 
mattox,  and  Hinks,  who  moved  between  the  two.  The 
Black  Brigade  was  under  Gen.  Hinks,  who  discov 
ered  a  Confederate  battery  on  a  knoll  six  miles  out 


NEGRO  RACE  AY  AMERICA.  1  23 

from  the  city.  Under  range  of  the  Confederate  guns 
he  formed  his  line  for  a  charge.  The  battery  must 
be  taken  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  "  Forward  !" 
rang  out  along  the  line,  and  as  the  troops  cleared 
the  woods,  the  enemy  opened  a  raking  fire  with 
canister,  siege-gun  and  musket.  But  away  swept 
the  black  brigade,  their  ranks  shattered  with  deadly 
shells.  As  they  closer  came,  a  fusilade  of  musketry 
came  down  upon  them ;  a  hundred  men  fell ;  but 
leaping  and  dashing,  with  a  wild  cheer,  they  burst 
over  the  bulwarks,  drove  the  enemy  from  their  guns, 
and  instantly  turned  them  on  their  scattered  ranks 
beating  a  hasty  retreat  towards  Petersburg — and  the 
colored  troops  had  won  the  day.' 

Brooks  and  Martindale  were  now  in  front  of 
the  Confederates'  main  line  near  the  river.  Hinks, 
with  his  Negro  corps  of  3000,  was  ordered  towards 
"  Dunn's  House,"  three  miles  from  the  city  on  the 
road  leading  east. 

To  Reach  His  Position  it  was  necessary  to  cross 
an  open  space  in  full  reach  of  the  sharp-shooters 
and  artillery  of  the  enemy.  They  crossed  this  space 
by  moving  forward  a  few  paces  and  then  lying  down ; 
at  every  quiet  moment  they  would  steal  forward; 
they  thus  reached  their  position  under  the  most 
trying  test.  But  on  reaching  their  post,  so  thick 
and  deadly  was  the  firing  from  all  sides  that  they 

dared  not  rise ;  so  thus  they  lay  from  one  till  five 

• 


124  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

o'clock  P.M.,  while  torrents  of  lead  whizzed  over  their 
heads. 

"Dunn's  House"  was  defended  by  three  forts, 
one  in  front,  one  north,  and  another  south.  Deep 
ravines  lay  in  front,  while  an  almost  impassable 
abatis  of  trees  impeded  the  way  to  the  forts.  Seven 
hundred  yards  in  front  lay  Minks'  black  troops  hun 
gry  for  the  fray.  Thus  they  lay  in  deep  suspense, 
anxious  for  orders  to  go  forward.  Meanwhile, 
shells  plowed  the  earth  around  them  for  four  long 
hours,  which  seemed  to  them  like  days. 

At  Five  o'clock  the  command  "  Forward  !"  was 
greeted  with  a  rush  and  a  shout.  The  brave  Negro 
troops  went  forward  at  a  double-quick;  the  skir 
mishers  were  the  first  to  reach  the  embankments, 
and  were  greeted  with  a  shower  of  bullets  which 
tumbled  many  headlong  and  lifeless  into  the  pits. 
But  on  came  the  main  body  as  if  impelled  by  light 
ning;  they  swept  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy, 
grabbed  their  guns  and  fired  them  upon  them  as 
they  "  ran  for  their  lives."  Three  hundred  Confed 
erates  were  taken  prisoners,  and  several  pieces  of 
artillery  were  captured. 

Smith  Had  Petersburg  now  at  his  mercy. 
Brooks  and  Martindale  had  swept  the  enemy  in 
front  of  them  simultaneously  with  Hinks,  and  the 
way  was  open  to  march  immediately  intoMhe  city. 
Gen.  Smith,  however,  decided  to  wait  for  the  arrival 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  125 

of  Gen.  Birney  with  the  Second  Corps — and  this 
delay  caused  the  loss  of  many  thousand  lives. 

Next  Morning,  as  the  sun  peeped  up  over  the 
yellow  waters  of  the  Appomattox,  the  condition  of 
things  had  changed.  The  flower  of  Lee's  army  had 
come  up  in  the  night-time,  and  Grant  was  compelled 
afterwards  to  lay  siege  to  the  city,  under  which  it 
finally  surrendered. 

Secretary  Stanton  was  wild  with  delight  over  the 
valor  of  the  colored  troops  at  Petersburg.  Said  he  : 
"  The  hardest  fighting  was  done  by  the  black  troops. 
The  forts  they  stormed  were  the  worst  of  all.  After 
the  affair  was  over,  Gen.  Smith  went  to  thank  them, 
and  tell  them  he  was  proud  of  their  courage  and 
dash.  He  says  they  cannot  be  excelled  as  soldiers, 
and  that  hereafter  he  will  send  them  in  a  difficult 
place  as  readily  as  the  white  troops." 


126  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  CRATER. 

Petersburg  was  now  surrounded  by  the  Union 
army.  There  was  continual  skirmishing.  Burnside 
commanded  the  Ninth  Corps,  composed  partly  of 
Negro  troops.  By  fierce  fighting  he  made  his  way 
up  to  within  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  Con 
federate  batteries.  Projecting  out  in  front  of  them 
was  a  strong  fort.  After  consultation  a  trench  was 
dug  out  some  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long,  branch 
ing  off  in  two  directions  at  the  end  under  the  fort. 
It  was  packed  with  powder  and  explosives,  the  de 
sign  being  to  blow  the  place  up.  As  arranged,  on 
the  3Oth  of  July,  1864,  the  match  was  applied. 
Dampness  prevented  an  explosion.  Lieut.  Jacob 
Douty  and  Sergeant  Henry  Rus  volunteered  to  go 
into  the  trenches  and  ascertain  and  remove  the 
difficulty,  and  very  soon  after  they  came  out,  at  4.45 
A.M.,  the  match  was  again  applied,  and — read  the 
result,  by  Gen.  Badeau  :  "  The  mine  exploded  with 
a  shock  like  that  of  an  earthquake,  tearing  up  the 
Confederates'  works  above  them,  and  vomiting  men, 
guns  and  caissons,  two  hundred  feet  into  the  air. 
The  tremendous  mass  appeared  for  a  moment  to 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  1 27 

hang  suspended  in  the  heavens  like  a  huge  indented 
cone,  the  exploding  powder  still  flashing  out  here 
and  there,  while  limbs  and  bodies  of  mutilated  men, 
and  fragments  of  cannon  and  wood-work,  could  be 
seen.  Then  all  fell  heavily  to  the  ground  again, 
with  a  second  report  like  thunder.  When  the 
smoke  and  dust  had  cleared  away,  only  an  enormous 
crater,  thirty  feet  deep,  sixty  feet  wide,  and  a  hun 
dred  and  fifty  feet  long,  stretched  out  in  front  of  the 
Ninth  Corps,  where  the  Confederate  fort  had  been." 

At  the  moment  of  the  explosion  the  Union  bat 
teries  belched  forth  from  one  hundred  and  ten  deadly 
cannon  and  fifty  mortars,  and  verily  the  earth 
seemed  to  tremble  from  the  shock. 

The  Plan  was  to  follow  the  discharge  of  the  bat 
teries  with  a  charge.  Gen.  Burnside  had  arranged 
his  Negro  troops  for  the  post  of  honor.  A  dispute 
arose  between  him  and  Gen.  Meade  as  to  the  wis 
dom  of  this  plan.  The  whole  matter  was  referred 
to  Gen.  Grant,  who  ordered  lots  to  be  drawn  by  the 
different  Generals  as  to  "  who  should  go  into  the 
crater/1  The  lot  fell  on  Gen.  Ledlie.  Gen.  Ledlie 
accordingly  endeavored  to  draw  up  his  troops  into 
the  mouth  of  the  crater.  The  Tenth  New  Hamp 
shire  faltered  and  broke  ranks.  Generals  Potter  and 
Wilcox  marched  their  troops  into  the  dreadful  hole, 
where  they  halted  long  enough  for  the  Confederates 
to  make  an  attack. 


128  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Gen.  Potter  Struggled  out  with  his  division  and 
charged  the  enemy,  but  had  to  retire.  Gen.  Burn- 
side  now  ordered  his  colored  troops  around  the 
edges  of  the  crater;  the  Confederates  were  now 
gathering  around  from  all  sides,  and  under  a  heavy 
fire  drove  the  colored  troops  into  the  deadly  hole, 
from  which  they  continued  to  rally  until  nightfall. 

A  Ridiculous  Mistake  was  made  by  the  Federals 
in  not  marching  into  the  city  immediately  after  the 
explosion,  when  the  Confederates  were  nonplussed 
and  breaking  away  in  mad  confusion.  Gen.  Grant 
says  of  this  disgraceful  affair:  "The  four  divisions 
of  his  (Burnside's)  corps  were  commanded  by 
Generals  Potter,  Wilcox,  Ledlie  and  Ferrero.  The 
last  was  a  colored  division  ;  and  Burnside  selected 
it  to  make  the  assault.  Meade  interfered  with 
this.  Burnside  then  took  Ledlie's  division/' 

Before  the  committee  that  investigated  the  affair 
Gen.  Grant  said  :  "  General  Burnside  wanted  to  put 
his  colored  division  in  front;  I  believe  if  he  had 
done  so  it  would  have  been  a  success." 

Four  Thousand  Four  Hundred  Union  soldiers 
perished  through  the  mistake  then  of  not  allowing 
the  colored  troops  to  take  the  Confederate  works 
which  Gen.  Grant  says  they  would  have  taken. 

How  the  Colored  Soldiers  fought  in  the  crater, 
let  the  Confederate  commanders  (some  of  whose 
slaves  were  there)  speak :  "  Ah,  boys,  you  have  got 


NEGKO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  129 


hot  work  ahead — they  are  Negroes  and  show  no 
quarter."  (Col.  Stewart.) 

"  Encouraged,  Threatened,  Emulating  the 
white  troops,  the  black  men  fought  with  desperation. 
Some  Confederate  soldiers  recognized  their  slaves  at 
the  crater.  A  Captain  of  the  Forty-first  Virginia 
gave  the  military  salute  to  '  Bob*  and  '  Ben/  whom 
he  had  left  hoeing  corn  in  Dinwiddie." 

Petersburg  being  Captured,  the  siege  of  Rich 
mond  was  begun  with  a  vigor  and  determination 
such  as  only  a  Grant  could  command.  Meanwhile, 
a  lively  discussion  was  going  on  at  the  Confederate 
capital  as  to  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Benjamin  to  arm 
the  slaves  in  defence  of  the  city.  Gen.  Lee  and  Mr. 
Jefferson  Davis  favored  this  plan,  and  recommended 
that  such  colored  people  as  would  join  the  Confed 
erate  ranks  should  be  set  free. 

Some  Score  or  More  Blacks,  three  of  whom 
were  Mr.  Benjamin's  slaves,  enlisted  and  were  daily 
drilled  in  the  capitol  square,  which  stands  on  an 
eminence  in  the  centre  of  the  city. 

Gen.  Lee  was  now  employing  his  best  troops 
and  military  manoeuvres  to  keep  Grant  out  of  the 
Confederate  capital.  His  retreats  and  skirmishes, 
executed  with  genius  and  tact,  delayed  the  event; 
but  opposed  by  superior  numbers,  his  army  half- 
starved,  and  the  Confederacy  subjugated  in  the 
Southwest,  he  saw  the  uselessness  of  a  further  hope- 


130  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

less  sacrifice  of  his  men,  and  surrendered  accordingly 
at  Appomattox,  on  the  gth  of  April,  1865,  "  he,  and 
his  army,  defeated  in  every  way  possible,  numbering 
27,5 1 6,"  and  "  every  man  was  fed  by  the  conqueror." 
When  the  Union  Army  marched  into  Rich 
mond,  the  Confederates  set  the  city  on  fire,  and  com 
menced  a  wholesale  destruction  and  plunder  of 
everything.  Thousands  of  gallons  of  rum  were 
emptied  into  the  streets,  and  staggering  destruction 
of  everything  useful  seemed  in  order.  The  colored 
troops  were  organized  into  fire  brigades,  and  soon 
extinguished  the  fires  and  stopped  the  plunder  their 
masters  had  begun. 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  131 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

INCIDENTS  OF  THE  WAR. 

Rodman's  Point,  N.  C.,  was  the  scene  of  a 
brave  deed  by  a  Negro.  A  flat-boat  full  of  troops, 
with  a  few  colored  soldiers  among  them,  tried  to 
land  at  this  place.  The  Confederate  soldiers  were 
lying  in  wait  for  the  boat,  and  the  soldiers  in  it  could 
only  save  themselves  by  lying  flat  on  the  bottom 
out  of  reach  of  their  deadly  guns.  But  if  the  boat 
remained  where  it  was  very  long  it  would  be  sur 
rounded  and  captured.  One  of  the  colored  soldiers 
saw  the  danger,  and  knowing  the  boat  must  be 
pushed  off  or  all  would  be  killed,  suddenly  rose  up 
and  said :  "  Somebody  got  to  die  to  get  us  all  out 
dis  'ere,  and  it  mout  jes  as  well  be  me  as  anybody  !" 
Saying  this  he  deliberately  stepped  on  shore  and 
pushed  the  boat  off.  The  men  in  the  bottom  were 
saved,  but  the  Negro  hero's  body  "  fell  forward  into 
the  end  of  the  boat,  pierced  by  five  bullets."  He 
had  done  what  no  other  of  them  dared  do  to  save 
the  lives  of  his  comrades. 

A  Negro  Established  a  Clothes-line  Tele 
graph  in  the  Falmouth  camp  on  the  Rappahannock 


1 32  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

in  1863.  The  Confederate  and  Union  armies  occu 
pied  opposite  sides  of  the  river  and  used  every 
means  of  gaining  knowledge  of  each  other's  move 
ments.  The  colored  attendant  in  the  Union  camp 
proved  very  valuable  here  as  elsewhere  during  the 
war.  A  colored  man  named  Dabney  drifted  into 
the  Union  lines  one  day  from  a  neighboring  farm, 
and  soon  proved  very  useful  because  of  his  full 
knowledge  of  the  topography  of  the  country.  He 
was  given-  employment  as  "  cook  and  body  servant." 
He  became  much  interested  in  the  system  of  army 
signals  employed,  and  begged  to  have  them  ex 
plained  to  him.  This  was  done,  and  he  learned 
them  reacfily.  His  wife  soon  came  over,  and  after 
staying  awhile  was  allowed  to  return  as  servant  to 
a  "secesh  woman"  whom  General  Hooker  was 
about  to  send  to  her  friends  on  the  other  side.  She 
went  over  and  took  a  place  as  laundress  at  "  the 
headquarters  of  a  prominent  rebel  General."  Dab 
ney,  her  husband,  was  on  the  Union  side,  and  soon 
began  to  know  all  about  what  was  to  take  place  in 
the  Confederate  camp.  An  hour  or  two  before  any 
movement  took  place  he  could  tell  all  about  it,  and 
it  always  turned  out  as  he  said.  The  wonder  and 
puzzle  to  the  Union  men  was  how  he  got  his  infor 
mation,  as  he  didn't  seem  to  neglect  his  work  to  go 
off  for  any  information,  and  did  not  converse  with 
the  scouts.  After  numerous  questions  and  many 


XEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  133 

requests  lie  finally  took  one  of  the  officers  to  a 
prominent  point  near  by,  and  pointed  out  a  cabin  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  in  the  suburbs  of  the  enemy's 
camp.  He  asked  the  officer  if  he  saw  a  clothes-line 
with  clothes  hanging  on  it.  The  officer  replied 
"Yes,"  whereupon  Dabneysaid:  "Well,  that  clothes 
line  tells  me  in  half  an  hour  just  what  goes  on  in 
their  camp.  You  see,  my  wife  over  there,  she  washes 
for  the  officers,  and  cooks  and  waits  around,  and  as 
soon  as  she  hears  of  any  movement  or  anything 
going  on  she  comes  down  and  moves  the  clothes  on 
that  line  so  I  can  understand  it  in  a  minute.  That 
there  gray  shirt  is  Longstreet,  and  when  she  takes 
it  off.it  means  he's  gone  down  about  Richmond. 
That  white  shirt  means  Hill,  and  when  she  moves  it 
up  to  the  west  end  of  the  line.  Hill's  Corps  has 
moved  up  stream.  That  red  one  is  Stonewall.  He's 
down  on  the  right  now,  and  if  he  moves  she  will 
move  that  red  shirt.0  One  morning  Dabney  came 
in  and  reported  a  movement  over  there,  but  said  it 
"  Don't  mean  anything,  they  are  only  making  be 
lieve/'  An  officer  went  out  to  look  at  the  clothes 
line  telegraph  through  his  field-glass.  There  had 
been  quite  a  shifting  over  there  of  the  army  flannels. 
"But  how  do  you  know  but  there's  something  in  it?" 
"Do  you  see  those  two  blankets  pinned  together  at 
the  bottom  ?"  said  Dabney.  "  Yes,  but  what  of  it  ?" 
said  the  officer.  "  Why,  that's  her  way  of  making  a 


134  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

fish-trap  ;  and  when  she  pins  the  clothes  together 
that  way,  it  means  that  Lee  is  only  trying  to  draw 
us  into  his  fish-trap."  As  long  as  the  two  armies 
lay  watching  each  other  on  opposite  banks  of  the 
stream,  Dabney  with  his  clothes-line  telegraph  con 
tinued  to  be  one  of  the  promptest  and  most  reliable 
of  General  Hooker's  scouts.  (Taken  from  Civil 
War — Song  and  Story.) 

William  Staines,  Hero  of  the  Fight  at  Bel- 
mont,  was  servant  to  General  McClernand.  He 
was  close  by  his  employer  during  many  an  engage 
ment.  On  one  occasion,  in  the  course  of  the  fight, 
a  captain  of  one  of  the  companies  was  struck  by  a 
spent  ball,  which  disabled  him  from  walking.  Staines, 
the  colored  servant,  rode  up  to  him  and  shouted, 
"Captain,  if  you  can  fight  any  longer  for  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  take  my  horse  and  lead  your  men." 
He  then  dismounted  and  helped  the  wounded  officer 
into  his  saddle,  and,  as  he  was  walking  away,  a  rebel 
dragoon  rushed  forward  at  the  officer  to  take  him 
prisoner.  The  brave  Staines  did  not  flinch,  but  drew 
his  revolver  and  put  a  ball  through  the  rebel's  head, 
scattering  his  brains  over  the  horse's  neck.  (Re 
vised  from  Civil  War — Song  and  Story.) 


XEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  135 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  END  OF  THE  WAR. 

FOR  four  years  the  American  people  had  been 
fighting  among  themselves.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
struggle  the  freedom  of  the  slaves  was  not  looked 
for  by  many.  But  the  Abolitionists,  who  grew 
stronger  as  the  war  progressed,  pressed  their  views 
upon  the  leaders  of  the  country.  They  took  every 
advantage  of  every  opportunity  to  make  the  freedom 
of  the  slaves  the  main  issue  of  the  war ;  and  their 
efforts,  coupled  with  the  desire  of  the  Union  leaders 
to  weaken  the  Confederacy  by  employing  Negro 
troops,  to  whom  they  offered  freedom,  caused  the 
final  proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  1863,  giving 
freedom  to  the  slaves. 

In  this  war  there  were  employed  on  the  Union 
side  more  than  186,000  colored  soldiers,  whose 
bravery  stands  vouched  for  by  every  Union,  and 
many  Confederate  generals,  who  saw  them  as  dar 
ing  in  the  face  of  death  as  their  fellow  white  sol 
diers. 

On  the  Confederate  Side,  there  were  enlisted 
throughout  the  South,  in  various  employments,  some 


136  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

6000  colored  troops.  But  all  over  the  South,  while 
their  masters  were  away  at  war,  the  Negro  women 
and  men  were  enlisted  in  the  ranks  of  the  private 
duties  of  the  Southern  soldiers'  homes,  which,  ever 
be  it  remembered  to  the  honor  and  credit  of  the 
Negro  race  of  America,  they  protected  faithfully  and 
industriously.  The  opportunity  for  outrage  and  plun 
der  was  open  on  every  side,  but  not  a  hurtful  hand 
was  laid  on  the  thousands  of  white  widows,  orphans, 
and  aged,  who  lay  defenceless  in  the  Negroes'  power. 
This  action  on  the  part  of  the  slaves  proves  that  the 
race  is  not  fond  of  bloodshed,  and  is  kind  even  to 
its  foes. 

Some  Plantations,  on  the  contrary,  were  found 
in  better  trim  on  the  return  of  the  masters  from  the 
war  than  when  they  left  them. 

Negro  Body-servants  accompanied  their  mas 
ters  into  the  war,  shared  the  roughs  of  camp-life, 
and  often  were  the  last  to  minister  to  their  wants  in 
the  hospital,  and  the  first  to  bear  the  tidings  home 
to  the  anxious  family  after  death ;  taking  with  them 
sometimes  the' treasured  watch  or  ring. 

Mr.  James  H.  Jones,*  of  Raleigh,  N.  C,  served 
as  messenger  to  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  during  his 


*  He  emphatically  denies  the  assertion  that  has  gained  currency,  to  the 
effect  that  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  while  escaping  from  the  Union  forces  was  at 
tired  in  female  clothes.  Mr.  J.  states  that  the  Confederate  President  used  a 
large  cloak,  which  he  usually  wore  indoors,  to  disguise  himself  with. 


NEGRO  R.4CE  IX  AMERICA.  137 


Presidency  of  the  Confederacy  at  Richmond.  He 
was  with  him  when  caught  by  the  Union  troops  in 
southwest  Georgia,  and  was  also  confined  with  him 
in  the  "  Rip-Raps,"  at  Hampton  Roads,  Virginia. 
After  the  war,  Mr.  Jones  kept  up  a  correspondence 
with  Mr.  Davis,  until  his  death,  and  received  a  new 
photograph  whenever  Mr.  Davis  had  a  new  one 
taken.  Mr.  Jones  is  now  an  honored  citizen  of  Ra 
leigh,  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 


138  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

RECONSTRUCTION,  1865-68. 

After  the  Surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox, 
the  question  arose  as  to  what  should  be  done  with 
the  Southern  States  that  for  four  years  had  rebelled 
against  the  flag  of  the  Union,  and  had  set  up  a  flag 
of  their  own.  The  Southern  flag  was  now  con 
quered  ;  and  the  plan  of  the  North  was  to  restore 
these  conquered  States  into  the  Union.  Amnesty 
was  offered  all  those  who  desired  it.  A  Provisional 
Government  was  first  established  in  North  Carolina, 
with  W.  W.  Holden  at  its  head ;  other  States  were 
organized  in  the  same  way.  Conventions  were  called 
by  the  Provisional  Governors  of  the  several  States, 
and  new  constitutions  adopted  in  conformity  with  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  Right  to  Vote  was  denied  the  colored  peo 
ple.  Exclusion  from  public  places  was  established 
by  law.  Thirty-nine  lashes  was  the  punishment  for 
keeping  firearms.  When  white  persons  were  im 
plicated,  colored  people  could  not  testify  in  the 
courts. 

The  Thirteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitu- 


XEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  130 

tion,  making  the  race  citizens,  .was  virtually  made 
null  and  void  by  the  legislatures  of  the  reconstructed 
States.  So  it  became  necessary  to  pass  The  Civil 
Rights  Bill,  giving  the  colored  people  the  right  to 
enter  public  places,  and  ride  on  first-class  railroad 
cars.  This  bill  has  been  declared  unconstitutional 
by  our  Supreme  Court.  Owing  to  the  attempts  of  the 
Ku-Klux  Klan  to  prevent  colored  people  from  votmg, 
the  fifteenth  amendment  was  passed  guaranteeing 
to  them  the  right  to  vote  and  to  have  their  votes 
counted.  Thus,  the  eleven  Southern  States  were 
reconstructed  on  a  basis  of  universal  suffrage,  and 
the  colored  race  began  to  develop  statesmen,  orators, 
lawyers,  judges,  teachers  of  various  kinds,  ministers, 
and  discreet,  far-seeing  business  men. 


THE  FREEDMEN'S  BUREAU. 


The  design  of  this  institution  was  to  educate  the 
newly  emancipated  colored  people  into  all  the  ways 
of  freedom.  Schools  were  opened,  to  which  there 
was  a  general  rush,  so  great  was  the  thirst  for 
knowledge.  Many  gray  heads  could  be  seen  among 
the  children,  and  the  "  Blue  Back  Speller  "  was  often 
to  be  seen  even  in  the  Sabbath-schools.  Such  a 
stampede,  such  an  ardent  desire  for  knowledge,  was 
possibly  never  witnessed  anywhere  before.  Many 
very  old  people  learned  to  read  the  Bible,  and  the 


140  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

joy  they  seemed  to  get  from  this  long  coveted  privi 
lege  was  poured  out  in  often  thankful  and  fervent 
prayer. 

Gen.  O.  O.  Howard  was  a  leading  spirit  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.  His  de 
sign  was  to  make  the  colored  people  better  citizens 
'in  every  respect.  With  him  was  associated  a  saintly 
corps  of  devoted,  missionary-inclined  white  men  and 
women,  who  planted  school-houses  and  churches  in 
many  a  hamlet  of  this  once  slave-cursed  but  now 
free  land. 

Many  of  These  People  came  from  the  best 
families  of  the  North,  were  well  educated,  refined 
and  cultured.  Their  pupils  were  not  slow  in  catch 
ing  the  beautiful  graces  of  these  instructors,  and 
*  their  extra  qualities  are  demonstrated  in  the  won 
derful  educational  progress  the  race  has  made  within 
only  twenty-six  years  of  actual  freedom. 

The  Plan  was  to  locate  schools  at  central  points 
where  teachers  and  preachers  might  be  trained  to 
go  out  into  the  rural  districts  in  which  the  majority 
of  the  race  still  lived.  The  money  was  contributed 
by  benevolent  people  of  the  North,  and  a  wiser  in 
vestment,  both  for  God  and  humanity,  was  never 
made. 

Through  the  Influence  of  the  Freedmen's  Bu 
reau  the  Southern  States  got  their  present  free- 
school  system,  which  they  did  not  have  before  the 


NEGRO  RA  CE  JW  A MERICA.  141 

war.  Some  schools  established  during  this  time 
were:  Shaw  University,  Raleigh,  N.  C. ;  Howard 
University,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Fisk  University, 
Nashville,  Tenn. ;  Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga. ; 
Hampton  Normal  School,  Hampton,  Va. ;  St.  Au 
gustine  Normal  School,  Raleigh,  and  many  others 
whose  influence  for  good  is  incalculable. 


142  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

PROGRESS  SINCE  FREEDOM. 

Through  a  Century  and  a  Half  we  have  now 
traced  our  ancestors'  history.  We  have  seen  how 
they  performed  the  hard  tasks  assigned  them  by 
their  masters :  following  the  hoe  and  the  plow  with 
a  laugh  and  a  song;  making  magnificent  estates, 
building  mansions,  furnishing  them  with  the  splen 
dor  of  the  times ;  so  eager  in  patriotism  as  to  be 
the  first  to  shed  their  blood  on  the  altar  of  their 
country's  liberty.  All  this  they  did  with  no  other 
hope  of  reward  than  a  slave's  cabin  and  a  life  of 
bondage  for  themselves  and  children.  Scarcely 
have  they  ever  sought  revenge  in  riot  or  bloodshed. 
Stolen  from  a  home  of  savage  freedom  they  found 
themselves  in  strait  circumstances  as  slaves  in  Amer 
ica,  but  the  greatness  of  the  Negro's  nature  crops 
out  plainly  in  the  wonderful  way  in  which  he  adapted 
himself  to  his  new  conditions.  The  fact  that  he 
went  to  work  willingly,  worked  so  long  and  faith 
fully,  and  rebelled  so  little,  marks  him  as  far  supe 
rior  to  the  Indian,  who  never  accepts  the  conditions 
of  labor,  either  for  himself  or  another;  and  univer- 


NEGRO  RACK  IN  AMERICA.  143 

sally  enjoys  the  rank  of  a  savage  rather  than  that 
of  a  civilized  being.  A  plant  placed  in  the  window 
of  a  dark  chamber  graduallybends  its  foliage  towards 
the  sunlight ;  so  the  Negro,  surrounded  by  the  dark 
ness  of  slavery,  bent  his  life  toward  the  light  of  his 
master's  God.  He  found  Him.  In  Him  he  trusted, 
to  Him  he  prayed,  from  Him  he  hoped  for  deliver 
ance  ;  no  people  were  ever  more  devout  according 
to  their  knowledge  of  the  word,  no  people  ever  suf 
fered  persecution  more  bravely,  no  people  ever  got 
more  out  of  the  few  talents  assigned  them ;  and  for 
this  humble  devotion,  this  implicit  trust  and  faith 
fulness,  God  has  now  rewarded  them.  The  race 
comes  out  of  slavery  with  more  than  it  had  before  it 
went  in.  But  there  was  no  need  of  any  slavery  at  all* 
Jamestown,  New  England^  and  the  other  colonies 
might  have  held  the  Negro  long  enough  to  serve 
out  his  passage  from  Africa,  and  then  given  him  his 
freedom,  as  they  did  their  white  slaves  imported 
from  England.  The  mistake  was  made  then ;  the 
mistake  became  a  law  which  the  people  were  edu 
cated  to  believe  was  just.  Many  did  not  believe  it, 
and  some  slaveholders  sought  to  make  the  condition 
of  their  slaves  comfortable.  The  affection  arising 
between  the  slave  and  his  master  often  governed 
the  treatment.  The  Negro  being  largely  endowed 
by  nature  with  affection,  affability,  and  a  forgiving 
spirit,  generally  won.  for  himself  good  treatment. 


1 44  ^A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Then,  too,  the  master  had  some  soul,  and  where 
that  ingredient  of  his  make-up  was  deficient,  a  sel 
fish  interest  in  the  slave  as  his  property  somewhat 
modified  the  venom  that  might  have  more  often 
visited  itself  upon  the  unfortunate  slave  in  lashes  and 
stripes. 

Many  Affections  and  Friendships  formed  be 
tween  master  and  slave  exist  to  the  present  day. 
Some  slaves  are  still  at  the  old  homestead,  condi 
tions  entirely  reversed,  voting  differently  at  the 
polls,  but  friends  at  home ;  and  in  death  the  family 
of  one  follows  that  of  the  other  to  the  grave. 

When  the  War  Ended,  the  whole  South  was 
in  an  unsettled  condition — property  destroyed,  thou 
sands  of  her  sons  dead  on  the  battle-field,  no  credit, 
conquered.  But  if  the  condition  of  the  whites  was 
bad,  that  of  the  "blacks  was  worse.  They  were  with 
out  homes,  money,  or  learning.  They  were  now  to 
feed,  clothe,  and  protect  themselves  in  a  government 
whose  treasury  they  had  enriched  with  two  centuries 
and  a  half  of  unrequited  labor,  and  a  country  whose 
laws  they  must  obey  but  could  not  read. 

It  was  Natural  that  they  should  make  mistakes. 
But  they  made  less  mistakes  than  the  bummers  who 
came  South  for  plunder  during  reconstruction  times, 
and  with  the  false  promise  of  "  forty  acres  and  a 
mule,"  led  the  unlettered  race  into  a  season  of 
idleness  and  vain  hopes.  But  this  condition  did  not 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  145 

• 

last.     The  Negro  inherited  the  ability  to  work  from 
the    institution  of  slavery.     He  soon    set  about  to 


utilize  this  ability.  I  ask  what  race  could  have  done 
more  ?  And  this  the  Negro  has  done,  though  vir 
tually  ostracized  from  the  avenues  of  trade  and  spec 
ulation.  His  admission  to  a  trades-union  is  the  ex 
ception  rather  than  the  rule  in  America.  A  colored 
boy  taking  a  place  as  porter  in  a  store  at  the  same 
time  with  a  white  boy,  may  find  the  white  boy  soon 
promoted  to  a  clerkship,  then  to  a  partnership  in  the 
firm,  if  he  is  smart;  but  the  colored  boy  remains, 
year  after  year,  where  he  first  commenced,  no  matter 
how  worthy,  no  matter  how  competent.  His  lot  is 
that  of  a  menial;  custom  assigns  him  there,  and  in 
looking  for  clerks  and  partners  he  is  not  thought 
of  by  the  white  business  man  ;  and  thus,  by  the  rigid 
laws  of  custom,  he  has  continually  lost  golden  op 
portunities  to  forge  his  fortune  ;  yet  he  has  pros 
pered  in  spite  of  this,  and  it  bespeaks  for  him  a  su 
perior  manhood. 


10 


146  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS. 

BEFORE  the  war,  the  colored  people  of  the  South 
worshipped  mainly  in  the  white  churches,  or  in  sep 
arate  churches  usually  ministered  to  by  white  pastors. 
But  the  colored  people,  naturally  inclined  to  religion, 
soon  developed  preachers  of  their  own.  They  com 
posed  their  own  music,  which  expressed,  in  their  own 
way,  thanks  and  petitions  to  heaven.  Their  music 
is  original,  entertaining,  and  pathetic — and  the  only 
original  music  of  the  American  Continent,  when 
we  remember  that  other  than  Negro  techniques 
and  melodies  are  all  borrowed  from  the  masters 
of  Europe. 

Debarred  of  the  Privileges  of  schools,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  religion  of  the  slaves  should  be 
otherwise  than  somewhat  twisted  from  the  cultured 
tone  of  the  Bible  to  suit  the  whims  of  an  unlettered 
race.  It  can  be  truly  said  though,  that,  considering 
the  circumstances,  they  did  not  bury  the  talents 
given  them.  But  the  religious  progress  since  free 
dom  is  so  marvellous  as  to  completely  overshadow 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA* 


147 


much  of  the  darkness  of  the  past.  Let  us  notice 
briefly  several  of  the  great  religious  denominations 
of  the  race.  The  colored  people  produce  less  infi 
dels  than  any  other  similar  number  of  people  in 
America.  They  are  proverbially  religious  and  God 
fearing. 


Bishop  W.  J.  Gaines. 


Bishop  W.  J.  Gaines  is  a  representative  of 
what  twenty-five  years  of  freedom  has  done  in  many 
instances  for  the  colored  race.  He.  was  born  a 
slave  in  Georgia  on  the  plantation  of  the  famous 
Robert  Toombs,  member  of  the  Confederate  Cabi- 


148  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


net.  He  had  reached  his  majority  before  the  war 
ended,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  his  chances  for  early 
culture  were  very  meagre.  But,  nevertheless,  he 
learned  to  read  at  odd  moments,  and  after  freedom 
applied  himself  to  his  books  with  undaunted  and 
determined  zeal.  He  often  speaks  of  how  "I  made 
up  my  mind  when  I  entered  the  ministry  to  reach 
the  highest  position  in  my  church  through  merit." 
He  has  won  his  coveted  prize  in  this  respect ;  and 
each  step  of  his  life,  from  the  plow-handle  to  the 
Bishopric,  has  been  markedly  illustrious.  He  is  a 
living  argument  of  the  innate  genius  of  the  race, 
that  might,  like  the  poet's  rose,  have  been  "  born  to 
blush  unseen,"  but  for  the  fact  that  he  embraced  the 
possibilities  that  freedom  opened  up  before  him. 
He  is  of  commanding  presence,  dignified,  and  a 
natural  leader  of  men.  It  is  an  inspiration  to  be  in 
his  presence,  and  his  appearance  on  the  rostrum  is 
natural  and  complete. 

He  has  possibly  built  more  church  edifices  than 
any  other  member  of  his  denomination.  Morris 
Brown  College,  of  Atlanta,  worth  something  over 
seventy  thousand  dollars,  is  the  work  of  his  hands, 
and  that  of  itself  would  sufficiently  speak  for  his 
ability,  without  referring  to  thousands  of  dollars 
raised  for  other  purposes.  Bishop  Gaines  can  be 
counted  on  to  foster  and  encourage  any  enterprise 
tending  to  the  benefit  of  the  Negro  race,  and  he 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  149 

never  fails  to  encourage  the  young  people  who  are 
anxious  to  rise. 

The  A.  M.  E.  Church,  founded  by  Rev.  Richard 
Allen,  of  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  because  of  the  spirit 
of  caste  and  race  prejudice  of  the  Protestant  Church 
during  and  after  the  American  Revolution,  has  ex 
erted  a  broad  and  unmeasured  influence  upon  the 
Negro  race.  From  a  meeting  held  in  1816,  at  Rev. 
Allen's  private  house,  has  sprung  surprising  results. 
It  has  3394  churches,  valued  at  £5,028,126;  660 
parsonages,  valued  at  $312,763.75,  and  the  total 
valuation  of  church  property  is  $5,341,889.25.  It 
has  a  publication  department,  which  sends  out  the 
Christian  Recorder  and  A.  Jlf.  E.  Review  to  thou 
sands  of  people.  The  salaries  of  the  editors  of  these 
papers  amount  to  $10,800.  In  1887,  the  money 
raised  for  all  purposes  was  $1,064,569.50,  with  an 
indebtedness  of  $509,1 13.24.  Wilberforce  Univer 
sity  is  a  noted  institution  controlled  by  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church.  The  influence  of  this  church  for  good 
among  the  people  cannot  be  measured.  The  bish 
ops  are  an  extraordinary  set  of  learned  men,  many 
of  whom  are  self-made,  but  yet  are  authors,  orators, 
linguists,  theologians  and  scholars  that  will  compare 
favorably  with  the  best  theological  brain  of  America. 

Rev.  E.  M.  Brawley,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  is 
noted  especially  for  his  sober,  earnest  and  pious 
Christian  life.  He  is  a  scholarly  gentleman,  and 


150 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


Rev.  E.  M.  Brawley. 

thoroughly  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  people. 
It  has  been  his  fortune  to  be  President  of  Selma 
University,  Ala.;  Sunday-school  agent  in  South 
Carolina,  and  editor  of  the  Baptist  Tribune.  Such 
a  hard-working,  zealous  and  thoroughly  honest  man 
should  be  a  pride  to  any  race. 

The  Baptist  Church  was  founded  by  Roger 
Williams.  The  church  officers  derive  their  power 
from  the  members.  In  the  beginning,  Roger  Wil- 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  1 51 

Hams'  influence  had  a  tendency  to  keep  down  race 
prejudice.  But  from  the  rapid  increase  of  slaves, 
the  feeling  grew  until  self-interest  demanded  a  sep 
aration.  They  form  a  body  of  useful  and  intelligent 
people.  Kentucky  has  a  host  of  Baptists,  who  own 
much  valuable  property.  There  are  more  Baptists 
in  Virginia  than  in  any  other  Southern  State.  Some 
of  the  churches  have  very  large  congregations. 
There  are  a  large  number  of  Baptist  churches  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  some  of  which  have  in 
teresting  histories.  Among  the  noble,  true  and 
faithful  workers  of  the  Baptists  are  Duke,  Williams, 
Anderson,  and  Leonard,  Andrew  Grimes  and  Dr. 
W.  J.  Simmons  (deceased),  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  who 
have  consecrated  their  lives  to  their  church  in  the 
spreading  of  the  Gospel. 

The  Baptist  Church  exercises  a  religious  and 
educational  influence  over  more  colored  people  than 
any  other  denomination  in  America.  I  gather  from 
the  minutes  of  their  National  Convention  of  1887, 
that  they  have  a  total  membership  in  the  United 
States  of  1,155,486;  and  that  they  have  6605  or 
dained  ministers,  3304  Sabbath-schools  with  10,718 
teachers  and  officers  and  194,492  pupils.  They  own 
$3,056,571  worth  of  church  property.  They  operate 
twenty-five  colleges  and  seminaries,  worth  $1,072- 
140,  and  in  which  are  annually  taught  more  than 
3609  pupils. 


152  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

The  A.  M.  E.  Zion  Church  is  another  of  the 
powerful  religious  denominations  among  the  col 
ored  people,  and  is  everywhere  urging  the  race  to 
a  higher  standard  of  living  in  all  respects.  Their 
membership  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  500,000. 
They  support  and  control,  entirely,  Livingston  Col 
lege,  of  Salisbury,  N.  C.,  a  progressive  and  well- 
manned  institution,  and  the  Star  of  Zion,  the  church 
organ,  ably  edited  by  Mr.  John  C.  Dancy.  The  Liv 
ingston  College  Faculty  is  all  colored,  and  it  has 
property  valued  at  over  $100,000. 

The  Northern  Methodist  Church  supports 
many  churches  in  the  South  ministered  over  by 
colored  pastors.  There  are  several  schools  sup 
ported  by  them,  prominent  among  which  is  Bennet 
College  of  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  and  controlled  en 
tirely  by  a  colored  Faculty.  Other  schools  of  this 
denomination,  manned  by  white  Faculties,  are,  with 
Bennet  College,  doing  a  most  necessary  and  bene 
ficial  work  among  the  colored  people.  So  might  be 
mentioned  schools  and  churches  supported  by 
Northern  Presbyterians,  Northern  Congregational- 
ists,  Episcopalians,  and  other  denominations,  all  of 
which  are  to  be  reckoned  as  great  uplifting  agencies 
among  the  colored  people.  Some  of  the  Northern 
societies  spend  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
every  year  on  Negro  education  and  religion  in  the 
South.  The  daily  expenditure  of  the  American 


KEQW  RACE  IN  AMERICA. 


153 


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154  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Missionary  Association  for  schools  and  churches  in 
the  South  is  estimated  at  $1200. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  has  not  spread  as 
rapidly  among  the  Negroes  as  some  other  forms 
of  belief,  and  yet  within  the  past  twenty-five  years 
that  church  has  taken  a  strong  hold  among  them, 
chiefly  in  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  Florida, 
and  Tennessee.  Within  the  territory  embraced  in 
these  States,  there  are  2  Synods,  10  Presbyteries, 
200  ministers,  250  churches,  18,000  communicants, 
and  1 5,000  Sabbath-school  scholars.  Except  twelve 
or  fifteen  ministers,  and  a  few  score  members, 
these  synods  are  composed  of  Negroes,  who  con 
trol  the  affairs  of  the  churches  and  schools.  They 
are  in  ecclesiastical  fellowship  with  the  Northern 
Presbyterian  Church.  Their  organ  is  the  Africo- 
American  Presbyterian,  published  at  Charlotte,  N. 
C,  by  the  Africo-American  Presbyterian  Publishing 
Company,  with  Rev.  D.  J.  Sanders,  D.D.,  as  editor. 
This  journal  has  a  wide  circulation. 

Educational  Work  of  the  Presbyterians. — 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Presbyterians  are  Lincoln 
University,  Oxford,  Pennsylvania,  which  is  their 
leading  institution  for  educating  colored  men,  and 
from  which  more  Negro  graduates  have  gone  out, 
into  all  the  professions  and  as  ministers  and  teach 
ers,  into  the  different  denominations,  than  from  any 
similar  school  in  the  country;  Diddle  University, 


XEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA,  155 

Charlotte,  N.  C,  ranking  among  the  first  in  the 
South,  now  presided  over  by  Rev.  D.  J.  Sanders, 
D.D.,  has  an  able  Faculty  of  white  and  colored  men; 
and  the  far-famed  Scotia  Seminary,  at  Concord,  N. 
C.,  under  the  presidency  of  Rev.  D.  J.  Satterfield, 
D.D.,  with  an  able  corps  of  teachers.  Scotia  Semi 
nary  has  done,  and  is  doing,  much  for  the  education 
of  colored  girls,  and  ranks  second  to  none  of  the 
seminaries  of  its  kind.  The  attendance  last  year 
was  240,  and  accommodations  are  being  provided 
for  1 50  more. 


156  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS. 

Can  the  Negro  learn  anything?  was  the  first 
question  he  had  to  answer  after  schools  were  estab 
lished  for  him.  He  has  answered  this  question  sat 
isfactorily  to  the  most  incredulous  in  every  instance 
where  brought  to  a  test.  The  fact  that  every  slave 
State  had  laws  against  his  being  taught  before  the 
war,  and  that  they  opposed  it  afterwards,  ought  to 
be  a  sufficient  answer.  But  if  this  is  not  sufficient, 
let  speak  the  deeds  of  Professor  Scarborough,  of 
Macon,  Ga.,  author  of  a  series  of  Greek  text-books 
which  have  been  adopted  at  Yale ;  George  W.  Wil 
liams,  author  of  "  History  of  the  American  Negro  ;" 
Jos.  T.  Wilson,  author  of  "Black  Phalanx;"  C.  G. 
Morgan,  class  orator  at  Harvard,  1890,  and  a  host 
of  others. 

WHAT  THE  SOUTH  IS  DOING  FOR  NEGRO  EDUCATION. 

It  would  be  a  serious  error  to  pmit,  in  speaking 
of  the  educational  progress  of  the  Negro  since  free 
dom,  what  has  been  done  to  help  him  by  the  South 
ern  States.  Though  at  first  bitterly  opposed  to 
Negro  education,  there  has  been  a  wonderful  change 
of  sentiment  on  this  subject.  They  made  laws 


157 

against  Negro  education  before  the  war,  now  they 
make  laws  for  it.  In  the  more  liberal  portions  of 
many  Southern  States,  good  schools  are  provided 
for  the  colored  children.  Some  States  have  asylums 
for  the  deaf,  dumb,  blind  and  insane.  The  Institute 
for  these  unfortunates  at  Raleigh,  N.  C,  is  entirely 
supported  by  the  State,  which  employs  a  most  com 
petent  colored  Principal  in  the  person  of  Professor 
W.  F.  Debnam.  Texas  has  a  similar  school.  The 
South  spends  annually  about  $6,000,000  on  Negro 
schools,  and  this  sum  will  soon  be  increased.  Some 
of  the  States  have  Normal  Schools,  Universities  and 
Training  Schools  for  the  colored  youth.  There  are 
some  who  oppose  Negro  education  on  the  ground 
that  the  whites  pay  two-thirds  of  the  taxes.  A  false 
position  this — the  laborer  and  consumer  pay  the 
taxes  on  capital.  The  Negro  is  the  laborer  of  the 
South,  and  a  large  consumer.  He  produces  more 
than  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of  farm  products  annu 
ally,  not  estimating  other  products  ;  and  it  is  his  toil, 
his  muscle  that  makes  the  school-fund  ;  and  out  of 
the  inexhaustible  store-house  of  his  own  labor  does  he 
draw  his  quota  of  the  appropriation  for  the  schools. 
The  High  Schools,  Seminaries,  Colleges  and 
Professional  Schools  for  the  colored  people,  number 
nearly  two  hundred.  Many  of  them  are  controlled 
entirely  by  colored  Faculties,  as  Livingston  and  Ben 
nett  Colleges,  N.  C. ;  Morris  Brown  College,  Ga. ; 


\ 


158  A  SCffOOL  ffTSTOBY  OP  THE 

Tuskegee  Normal  School,  Ala. ;  Wilberforce  Uni 
versity,  Ohio ;  Virginia  Normal  and  Collegiate 
Institute;  Kittrell's  Normal  and  Industrial  Insti 
tute,  and  Shaw  University,  except  its  President, 
who  is  white,  but  one  of  the  first  Presidents  to 
recognize  the  ability  of  -young  colored  men  to 
teach  the  higher  branches.  Dr.  H.  M.  Tupper 
inaugurated  a  movement  by  putting  young  colored 
men  at  work  in  Shaw  University,  which  has  been 
followed  by  many  of  the  other  schools  supported  by 
donations  from  white  friends  in  the  North.  The 
plan  works  admirably  well,  and,  besides  teaching 
the  race  to  confide  in  the  ability  of  its  own  educated 
men  and  women,  it  affords  lucrative  employment  to 
many  who  are  by  nature  and  choice  fitted  for  the 
work  of  teaching. 

A  Self-made  Man  is  a  worthy  description  when 
applied  to  a  Saxon.  But  a  knowledge  of  the  facts 
will  teach  us  that  nine-tenths  of  all  the  leading  Ne 
groes  were  and  are  self-made.  The  royal  road  to 
knowledge  is  beyond  question  closed  to  the  young 
colored  man. 

There  is  No  Large  Estate  to  draw  on  for 
school  bills ;  no  rich  uncle  or  kinsman  to  foot  the 
bill  and  wait  till  success  in  after  years  for  a  settle 
ment.  His  own  brawny  muscle  is  usually  the  young 
colored  student's  means  of  support.  Many  of  them 
work  in  school  between  hours.  In  fact,  most  of  the 


P. ACE  /.V  AMERICA. 


159 


A 


,   >  J  A1J/ 

VTO> 


mv. 

S^'J. 


j      i 

-        !        ; 

f. 


•s  .,—»..    . 

A-  - , ' 

?  • 

f  %1 


if 


\     jjimriTt-iTirTTrr,  .  , 
\_/  i»,  .'\^«- 


160  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OP  THE 

schools  for  colored  people  in  the  South  assign  cer 
tain  hours  each  clay  in  which  the  students  are  to 
labor.  Some  institutions  do  not  spend  one  cent  for 
domestic  labor  during  the  whole  of  the  school  terms. 
Yet  they,  in  some  instances,  raise  quite  enough  farm 
and  garden  products  for  their  tables,  and  sometimes 
make  brick  enough  to  put  up  extra  buildings.  The 
time  usually  used  by  the  white  student  in  foot-ball 
and  other  games  is  utilized  by  the  colored  student 
in  faithful  toil.  The  fact  that  in  none  of  the  colored 
schools  the  expense  for  tuition,  board,  lodging,  laun 
dry-work  and  incidentals  is  over  $12  per  month 
(and  in  some  cases  it  is  as  low  as  $6),  is  a  strong 
argument  in  favor  of  the  help  the  Negro  youth  fur 
nishes  towards  his  own  education.  People  with 
such  a  love  for  knowledge  that  they  are  willing  to 
thus  toil  for  it,  may  be  relied  .upon  to  use  that 
knowledge  properly. 

When  the  War  Closed  there  were  about  four 
million  colored  people  in  the  United  States.  Scarcely 
a  million  of  them  could  read.  Now  they  number 
about  eight  millions,  and  nearly  half  of  them  can 
read.  There  are  1,158,008  colored  children  in  the 
schools,  annually  taught  by  20,000  Negro  teachers. 
The  colored  people  of  the  South  have  made  more 
progress  in  education  since  the  war  than  in  anything 
else ;  and  they  are  still  thirsty  for  knowledge.  The 
schools  everywhere  are  crowded.  The  love  of 
knowledge  seems  to  be  instinctive,  and  thousands  of 


NEGRO  RA  CE  IX  A  ME  RICA .  161 

faithful  mothers  spend  many  weary  nights  at  the 
ironing-board  and  wash-tub  in  order  to  get  money 
to  help  their  children  obtain  an  education.  With 
the  start  they  now  have,  twenty-five  years  more  of 
earnest  work  will  show  marvellous  changes  in  the 
educational  condition  of  the  race  No  people  ever 
learned  more  in  so  short  a  time. 

MUSICAL    PROGRESS. 

The  Fisk  Jubilee  Singers  have  sung  the  fame 
of  the  Negro  in  all  America,  much  of  Europe  and 
Australia.  The  slave  music  is  the  only  original 
music  of  America.  The  Indian  has  none,  and  white 
Americans  have  borrowed  from  the  masters  of 
Europe.  Negro  melodies  are  now  a  part  of  the 
classical  music  of  this  country.  The  peculiarity  of 
Negro  song  is  its  pathos  and  trueness  to  nature.  It 
stirs  the  soul  and  revives  a  sunken  hope.  Travel 
lers  describe  the  music  of  the  native  African  as  sung 
in  a  major  key,  which  key  characterizes  the  songs 
of  a  conquering  people.  Slavery  has  not  extracted 
this  characteristic  totally  from  the  American  Negro's 
songs.  While  he  sings  not  the  conquering  major 
of  battle,  he  thrills  you  with  the  pleasing  minor  of 
hope.  Dr.  Talmagesays:  "Everybody  knows  the 
natural  gift  of  the  African  for  singing.  No  singing 
on  this  continent  like  that  of  the  colored  churches 
in  the  South.  Everybody  going  to  Richmond  or 
Charleston  wants  to  hear  the  Africans  sing/' 

11 


162 


A  SCHOOL  BTSTOR?  OP 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

FINANCIAL  PROGRESS. 

The  Freedmen's  Savings  Bank,  though  it 
failed,  furnishes  a  strong*  argument  in  favor  of  the 
thrift  and  industry  of  the  recently  emancipated 
slaves.  In  this  bank  the  colored  people  deposited 
during  the  years  between  1866  and  1871,  about 
$57,000,000.  The  original  design  of  this  institution 
was  doubtless  good,  but  it  fell  into  bad  hands,  and 
the  consequence  was  a  most  disgraceful  failure. 

The  Negro's  Confidence  in  banks  was,  on  his 
first  trial  of  them,  badly  shaken.  He  has  not  re 
covered  yet.  Many  colored  people  who  would  de 
posit  their  money  now,  are  reluctant  to  do  so  when 
they  remember  the  "  Freedmen's  Bank  failure." 
The  branch  offices  of  the  bank  in  the  different  States 
were  placed  in  the  hands  of  colored  men  -who  worked 
for  salaries  under  instructions  from  the  home  office. 
To  this  day  sentiment  attaches  blame  on  these  col 
ored  bank  officers,  who  themselves  were  as  much 
deluded  as  the  depositors.  It  was  a  sad  and  dis 
graceful  piece  of  legalized  robbery.  But  the  Negro 
is  putting  his  money  in  other  enterprises,  and  though 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  163 

unsuccessful  in  his  first,  his  last  efforts  at  economy 
are  bearing  rich  fruit.  The  property  owned  by  the 
colored  people  now  is  computed  at  the  following 
figures : 

Twenty-five  Years'  Accumulations  :  Ala 
bama,  $9,200,125  ;  Arkansas,  $8,010,315  ;  Florida, 
$7,900,400;  Georgia, $10,41 5,330;  Kentucky, $5,900 
oio;  Louisiana,  $18,100,528  ;  Mississippi,  $  13,400,- 
213  ;  Missouri,  $6,600,343  >  North  Carolina,  $i  1,010,- 
652  ;  South  Carolina,  $12,500,000;  Texas,  $18,010,- 
545  ;  Tennessee,  $10,400,211  ;  Virginia,  $4,900,000. 

The  Colored  Churches  in  the  United  States 
own  $16,310,441  ;  the  total  amount  of  property 
owned  by  the  colored  people  in  all  the  States  is  rated 
at  over  $263,000,000. 

Much  Property  is  owned  by  the  colored  people 
of  the  North  and  West.  Some  of  their  estates  run 
high  into  the  hundred  thousands.  Many  of  them, 
though  shut  out  almost  entirely  from  the  trades 
and  business  avenues,  have  accumulated  handsome 
homes,  and  live  in  elegance  and  refinement. 

Rev.  A.  G.  Davis,  of  Raleigh,  N.  C,  in  an  ad 
dress  at  the  North  Carolina  Colored  Agricultural 
Fair,  said,  in  reference  to  the  Negro's  progress,  this, 
among  other  things :  "  Scan,  if  you  will,  the  long 
line  of  -eight  million  Negroes  as  they  march  slowly 
but  surely  up  the  road  of  progress,  and  you  will  find 
in  her  ranks  such  men  as  Granville  T,  Woods,  of 


164  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Ohio,  the  electrician,  mechanical  engineer,  manufac 
turer  of  telephones,  telegraph  and  electrical  instru 
ments  ;  William  Still,  of  Philadelphia,  the  coal- 
dealer;  Henry  Tanner,  the  artist;  John  W.  Terry, 
foreman  of  the  iron  and  fitting  department  of  the 
Chicago  West  Division  Street  Car  Company ;  J.  D. 
Baltimore,  engineer,  machinist,  and  inventor,  of 
Washington,  D.  C. ;  Wiley  Jones,  of  Pine  Bluff, 
Ark.,  the  owner  of  a  street  car  railroad,  race-track, 
and  park;  Richard  M.  Hancock,  foreman  of  the 
pattern  shops  of  the  Eagle  Works  and  Manufac 
turing  Co.,  and  draughtsman ;  John  Black,  the  in 
ventor,  whose  inventions  are  worth  tens  of  thou 
sands  ;  W.  C.  Atwood,  the  lumber  merchant  and 
capitalist/'  To  this  we  might  add  a 

LIST  OF  THE  NAMES  OF   A    FEW  WEALTHY  COLORED 
PEOPLE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Quoted  at 

Amanda  Eubanks,  of  Georgia,    ....  $400,000 

William  Still,  Philadelphia,      .....  200,000 

B.  K.  Bruce,  Washington,  D.  C.,     .     .    '.  200,000 

Mrs.  M.  Carpenter,  San  Francisco,      .     .  300,000 

John  McKee,  Philadelphia,      .....  300,000 

Robert  Purvis,  Washington,  D.  C 150,000 

Mrs.  Mars,  New  York,  . 100,000 

Mr.  Smith,  New  York, 150,000 

Mr.  D.  C.  White,  New  York, 130000 


RACE  IX  AMRKWA.  165 


Quoted  at 

Mr.  W.  C.  Coleman,  North  Carolina,  .     .  100,000 

Bishop  Beebee,  North  Carolina,  ....  50,000 

Fred.  Douglass,  Washington,  D.  C.,     .     .  200,000 

Bowers'  Estate,  Philadelphia,  .....  80,000 

Ex.  Gov.  P.  S.  B.  Pinchback,  Louisiana,    .  .    150,000 
Mr.  J.  H.  Lewis,    of  Boston,    formerly  of 

North  Carolina,      .....     ...  70,000 

The  Morrisettes,  of  South  Carolina,     .     .  130,000 

John  Thomas,  Baltimore,    ......  150,000 

\V.  Q.  Atwood,  Baltimore,           .     .     .  300,000 

Mr.  Avery  Smith,  Florida,  .     .     .     .     .     .  80,000 

Several  in  Alabama,      .......  50,000 

Fifty  in  North  Carolina,      ......  10,000 

Fifty  in  Georgia,  .........  10,000 

One  hundred  in  Louisiana,      .....  10,000 

Twelve  in  Mississippi,    .......  10,000 

Sixty  in  Texas,      .........  10,000 

Fifty  in  Virginia,  .     ........  10,000 

All  the  States  have  numbers  of  colored  individ 
uals  whose  wealth  is  rated  between  five  and  ten 
thousand  dollars. 

In  closing  this  chapter  on  the  progress  of  the  race 
since  the  war,  we  desire  to  say  to  you,  our  young 
readers,  that  much  has  been  done,  as  you  have  read 
in  this  chapter,  to  raise  the  race  in  the  estimation 
of  the  world,  but  much  more  remains  to  be  done. 


1GG  A  8C1100L  HISTORY  OF  THE 

What  has  been  said  in  this  chapter  is  not  to  make 
you  content  and  satisfied,  but  rather,  to  inspire  new 
zeal  and  fresh  courage,  that  each  one  of  you  may 
-  add  something  more  to  what  has  already  been  ac 
complished.  You  can,  you  must,  and  we  believe 
you  will.  Do  not  falter  on  account  of  difficulties. 
Set  your  standard  high  and  go  to  it,  remembering 
that  labor,  coupled  with  a  strong  devotion  to  integ 
rity,  will  surely  conquer. 


NEGRO  11 A CE  IX  A M  ERICA.  167 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

SOME  NOTED  NEGROES. 

Hon.  Hiram  R.  Revels,  a  native  of  North  Car 
olina,  graduate  of  Knox  College,  111.,  A.  M.  E.  min 
ister,  President  of  Alcorn  University,  Mississippi, 
elected  to  the  State  Senate,  Mississippi,  was  the 
first  Negro  to  hold  the  position  of  U.  S.  Senator, 
elected  to  fill  the  place  of  Jefferson  Davis  in  1869, 
to  the  wonder  and  surprise  of  all  America. 

Hon.  J.  Mercer  Langston,  A.B.,  A.M.,  LL.D.; 
great  Indian-Anglo-Saxon  Negro.  Grew  to  man 
hood,  educated  and  pursued  a  business  and  official 
life  in  Ohio  up  to  time  of  manhood.  He  made  un 
successful  attempts,  on  account  of  his  color,  in  New 
York  and  Ohio,  to  attend  the  law  schools.  After 
attempting  private  lessons,  he  grew  discouraged 
and  graduated  from  the  Theological  Department  of 
Oberlin  College,  Ohio.  He  then  studied  law  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  After  this  he  was  made 
Dean  and  Professor  of  Law  at  Howard  University, 
where  he  received  the  degree  of  LL.D.  President 
Hayes  appointed  him  U.  S.  Minister  and  Consul- 
General  to  Hayti,  which  position  he  honorably  held 


168 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


eight  years.     He  was  also  President  of  the  Virginia 
Normal  Collegiate  Institute. 

Hon.  Robert  Small,  the  pilot  and  captain  of  the 
steamer  Planet,  also  the  Congressman,  must  not  be 


X 


> 

.  >S^o:Tio>s<ii?'&»-.^.         .  •       A.  ..'          v-~ckoG 


Robert  Small. 


overlooked  on  these  pages.  Moving  from  Beaufort, 
South  Carolina,  to  Charleston  in  '51,  he  was  em 
ployed  as  "  rigger,"  thereby  getting  a  knowledge  of 
ships  and  the  life  of  sailors.  His  greatest  work  was 
with  the  Planter,  a  Confederate  transport  steamer 


XEGKO  P. ACE  IX  AMERICA.  169 


in  '6 1,  afterwards  used  as  a  dispatch  boat.  The 
officers  retired  from  the  boat  on  the  night  of  May 
13,  1862,  and  left  eight  colored  men  on  watch,  Small 
being  one  of  the  number.  He  was  only  called  a 
wheelman  then,  but  in  reality  was  a  pilot.  He  with 
the  others  on  board  conceived  the  risky  plan  of 
giving  the  boat  over  to  the  Federals.  Everything 
being  ready,  and  after  taking  on  Small's  wife  and 
three  children,  they  started  out  at  2  o'clock.  In  pass 
ing  out  of  the  harbor  and  by  each  fort  the  steamer 
gave  her  signals  as  though  the  Confederate  captain 
was  on  board,  and  everything  was  all  right.  The 
dangerous  plan,  which  if  it  had  been  found  out  would 
have  ended  in  instant  death,  was  a  success.  The 
boat  was  given  over  to  the  Federal  Captain  Nichols, 
who  found  her  quite  an  additional  help  to  the 
Union. 

ROBERT  ]J.  ELLIOTT. 

On  the  pages  of  history  no  name  shines  forth 
with  more  lustre  than  that  of  Hon.  Robert  B.  Elliott. 
He  was  one  of  earth's  sons,  plucked  too  soon  to 
reap  the  harvest  which  was  in  store  for  him.  This 
eloquent  orator  and  distinguished  lawyer  was  a 
graduate  from  an  English  college.  After  finishing 
there  he  studied  law  under  Fitz-Herbert,  of  the 
London  bar.  He  then  came  to  the  United  States, 
and  began  his  brilliant  and  successful  career.  It 


170  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

was  in  the  Forty-second  Congress,  while  a  repre 
sentative  of  South  Carolina,  that  he  impressed  him 
self  indelibly  upon  the  minds  of  his  country  as  a 
man  of  giant  intellect  and  rare  oratorical  ability. 
Alexander  Stephens  of  Georgia,  Beck  of  Kentucky, 
Harris  of  Virginia,  had  severely  assailed  the  con 
stitutionality  of  the  Civil  Rights  Bill,  after  which 
Mr.  Elliott  arose  and  addressed  the  House  as  fol 
lows,  an  effort  that  bespeaks  the  ability  of  the  man : 
41  Mr.  Speaker,  while  I  am  sincerely  grateful  for  the 
high  mark  of  courtesy  that  has  been  accorded  me 
by  this  House,  it  is  a  matter  of  regret  to  me  that  it 
is  necessary  at  this  day  that  I  should  rise  in  the 
presence  of  an  American  Congress  to  advocate  a 
bill  which  simply  asserts  rights  and  equal  privileges 
for  all  classes  of  American  citizens.  I  regret,  sir, 
that  the  dark  hue  of  my  skin  may  lend  a  color  to  the 
imputation  that  I  am  controlled  by  motives  personal 
to  myself  in  my  advocacy  of  this  great  measure  of 
natural  justice.  Sir,  the  motive  that  impels  me  is 
•restricted  by  no  such  narrow  boundary,  but  is  as 
broad  as  your  Constitution.  I  advocate  it,  sir,  be 
cause  it  is  right.  The  bill,  however,  not  only  appeals 
to  your  justice,  but  it  demands  a  response  to  your 
gratitude.  In  the  events  that  led  to  the  achieve 
ment  of  American  independence  the  Negro  was  not 
an  inactive  or  unconcerned  spectator.  He  bore  his 
part  bravely  upon  many  battle-fields,  although  un- 


NEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  1 71 

cheered  by  that  certain  hope  of  political  elevation 
which  victory  would  secure  to  the  white  man.  The 
tall  granite  shaft  which  a  grateful  State  has  reared 
above  its  sons  who  fell  in  defending  Fort  Griswold 
against  the  attack  of  Benedict  Arnold,  bears  the 
name  of  John  Freeman  and  others  of  the  African 
race,  who  there  cemented  with  their  blood  the  corner 
stone  of  your  Republic.  In  the  State  which  I  have 
had  the  honor  in  part  to  represent,  the  ride  of  the 
black  man  rang  out  against  the  troops  of  the  British 
crown  in  the  darkest  days  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion I  meet  him  (Stephens)  only  as  an  ad 
versary,  nor  shall  age  or  any  'other  consideration 
restrain  me  from  saying  that  he  now  offers  this 
Government,  which  he  has  done  his  utmost  to  de 
stroy,  a  very  poor  return  for  its  magnanimous  treat 
ment,  to  come  here  to  seek  to  continue,  by  the  as 
sertion  of  doctrines  obnoxious  to  the  true  principles 
of  our  Government,  the  burdens  and  oppressions, 
which  rest  upon  five  millions  of  his  countrymen  who 
never  failed  to  lift  their  earnest  prayers  for  the  suc 
cess  of  this  Government,  when  the  gentleman  was 
asking  to  break  up  the  Union  of  the  States,  and  to 
blot  the  American  Republic  from  the  galaxy  of  na 
tions/1  ....  He  related  to  Mr.  Beck  the  story  of 
the  fleeing  of  the  Kentucky  soldiers  at  a  most  urgent 
time  during  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain, 
and  then  proceeded  to  say  ;  "  In  quoting  this  indis- 


172  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THS 

putable  piece  of  history,  I  do  so  only  by  way  of  ad 
monition,  and  not  to  question  the  well-attested  gal 
lantry  of  the  true  Kcntuckian,  and  to  suggest  to  the 
gentleman  that  he  should  not  flaunt  his  heraldry  so 
proudly  while  he  bears  this  bar-sinister  on  the  mili 
tary  escutcheon  of  his  State — a  State  which  answered 
the  call  of  the  Republic  in  1861,  when  treason  thun 
dered  at  the  very  gates  of  the  capital,  by  coldly  de 
claring  her  neutrality  in  the  impending  struggle. 
The  Negro,  true  to  that  patriotism  that  has  ever 
characterized  and  marked  his  history,  came  to  the 
aid  of  the  Government  in  its  efforts  to  maintain  the 
Constitution.  To  that  Government  he  now  appeals ; 
that  Constitution  he  now  invokes  for  protection 
against  unjust  prejudices  founded  upon  caste/' 

William  Wells  Brown,  Esq.,  was  born  of 
slave  parents ;  he  escaped  to  the  North  and  so  im 
proved  his  time  from  then  on,  until  he  is  now  known 
to  the  world  as  M.D. ;  historian  of  the  Negro  race, 
lecturer  and  author. 

Rev.  D.  A.  Payne,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  is  the  oldest 
bishop  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  also  its  true,  tried 
friend.  He  is  a  great  educator,  and  has  the  Negro's 
best  interests  at  heart;  many  generous  and  noble 
deeds  has  he  done  for  his  race ;  he  is  the  scholar 
and  reverenced  father  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 

Rev.  William  T.  Dixon,  the  pastor  of  Concord 
Baptist  Church,  greatly  deserves  notice.  Rev.  Dixon 


XEGRO  RACE  AV  AMERICA. 


173 


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Bishop  D.  A.  Payne. 


174 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


has  been  a  great  power  in  his  church,  and  has  been 
the  means  of  exerting  an  excellent  intellectual  and 
moral  influence  upon  his  people  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
His  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the  souls  of  his 
fellow-men  are  untiring,  patient,  and  full  of  sacrifice. 
Many  faces  brighten  and  hearts  ring  with  joy  when 
his  name  is  called. 

Bishop  H.  M.  Turner,  D.D.,  is  well  known 
throughout  the  United  States ;  he  stands  as  a  model 
for  the  poor  boy  to-day  with  scanty  means.  His  early 
efforts  for  an  education  were  accompanied  with  many 
disappointments  and  failures.  Though  free,  he  had 
to  submit  to  the  law,  "no  Negro  must  be  educated/' 
However,  he  got  a  start  and  added  to  his  small 
stock  until  he  could  read  the  Bible  and  hymn-book. 
It  is  said  that  he  learned  fifty  psalms  in  a  night,  and 
while  plowing  repeated  them  to  his  co-laborers.  He 
was  hired  out  most  of  the  time  by  his  father ;  his 
work  was  always  with  hard  and  often  cruel  over 
seers  ;  but  he  said,  and  kept  his  word,  when  a  boy, 
no  white  man  should  whip  and  scar  his  back.  When 
about  fifteen  years  of  age  he  was  employed  as 
waiting-boy  in  a  law  office,  where  he  attracted  special 
notice  by  his  tenacious  memory  and  accuracy  in  de 
livering  messages;  the  lawyers  took  an  interest  in 
him  and  taught  him  whatever  he  wanted  to  learn. 
From  this  he  moved  on,  from  one  level  to  the  next 
higher — being  a  hard  student  all  the  way  up  to  the 


XEGRO  RACK  IX  AMERICA.  175 

present.  He  now  is  known  as  bishop,  philosopher, 
politician,  author,  devoted  race-man,  and  ex-United 
States  Chaplain. 

Hon.  P.  B.  S.  Pinchback  has  the  honor  of  hav 
ing  held  more  positions  than  any  other  colored  man. 
He  was  a  true  and  faithful  soldier  during  the  civil 
war.  At  the  time  of  the  impeachment  of  Governor 
Warmouth,  of  Louisiana,  he  became  acting  Governor 
of  that  State,  finally  becoming  the  real  Governor 
until  the  term  expired. 

Prof.  Richard  Theodore  Greener  stands  with 
the  first  scholars  of  the  Negro  race.  His  essays  and 
orations  rank  high  in  the  fields  of  literature  and 
oratory.  He  has  held  the  position  of  Chief  Civil 
Service  Examiner  of  New  York  City,  lawyer,  prize 
essayist,  orator,  and  Dean  of  the  Law  Department 
of  Howard  University. 

Senator  B.  K.  Bruce,  another  son  of  the  Ne 
gro  race,  though  not  receiving  his  privilege  as  a  man 
until  1865,  and  notwithstanding  then  having  attained 
to  the^age  of  24,  smothered  no  longer  the  intellec 
tual  fires  then  burning  in  his  soul.  Though  a  Vir 
ginian,  he  entered  into  public  life  in  Mississippi. 
Much  useful  knowledge  he  gathered  while  sergeant- 
'at-arms  of  the  State  Senate  of  Mississippi,  which 
helped  him  to  admirably  fill  his  place  as  U.  S.  Sen 
ator.  It  was,  also,  his  honor  to  hold  the  position 
of  Register  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury. 


176 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


v^.,,,,^..       ilillP 
:y^»^i|y|p-;:''' 


!?-.'XV.t-.-:-.tf8Ss: 
B.  K.  Bruce. 


Prof.  W.  S.  Scarborough  is  the  author  of  a  set 
of  Greek  text-books,  which  have  been  adopted  at 
Yale ;  he  is  also  versed  in  many  of  the  modern  and 
ancient  languages,  including  Gothic,  Zend,  Old  Sla 
vonic,  Lithuanian,  and  Sanscrit.  In  every  respect 
he  is  a  representative  man ;  having  come  up  from 
poverty  and  obscurity  to  his  present  high  position 


XEfSKO  KA CE  7AT  AMEKICA.  ( 7  7 


in  life.  He  was  born  in  Macon,  Ga.  When  the  war 
closed  he,  like  many  other  colored  boys,  entered 
the  "Yankee  school"  there,  from  which  he  subse 
quently  attended  Atlanta  University  ;  from  there  he 
went  to  Oberlin,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in  1875. 
He  taught  school  in  the  vacation  months  to  support 
himself  while  in  school.  Well  may  we  say  he  is  a 
self-made  man,  if  unflagging  industry,  self-reliance, 
and  an  indomitable  determination  to  succeed  may 
be  counted  as  ingredients  in  the  make-up  of  such 
characters.  He  is  now  teacher  of  classics  in  Wil- 
berforce  University,  which  position  he  holds  in  pref 
erence  to  many  others  his  scholarly  abilities  fit  him 
for,  and  which  he  might  attain.  He  is  recognized 
as  a  thorough  scholar  by  the  world  of  learned  men, 
and  stands  out  as  an  unchallenged  vindication  of  the 
race's  ability. 

Prof.  B.  T.  Washington  is  what  we  so  often 
hear  of,  a  self-made  man.  Being  left  quite  young 
an  orphan,  to  forge  his  own  way  through  the  world, 
he  started  out  determined  to  get  an  education.  With 
the  assistance  of  friends  he  reached  Hampton  In 
stitute  with  fifty  cents  in  his  pocket.  He  finished 
the  course  by  working  out  his  expenses  as  janitor. 
After  graduating  at  Hampton,  he  taught  a  while  at 
Maiden,  Va.,  then  his  home,  and  then  took  a  course 
of  study  at  Wayland  Seminary.  He  taught  two 
years  at  Hampton  Institute,  and  then  accepted  the 

12 


178 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OP  THE 


position  of  Principal  of  the  Tuskegee  Normal  School, 
which  he  has  held  with  a  remarkable  degree  of  suc 
cess  and  honor  to  himself  and  his  race.  The  school 
is  now  in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  doing  much 
good  throughout  the  State  of  Alabama,  and  even 
in  other  States. 

.  Prof.  E.  E.  Smith,  a  native  North  Carolinian, 
and  a  young  man  of  the  post-bellum  school,  has 
quickly  risen  to  fame  by  an  appointment  under 
President  Cleveland  as  Minister  of  the  U.  S.  Gov- 
erment  to  the  Republic  of  Liberia.  Mr.  Smith  served 
in  this  position  for  four  years  with  honor  and  credit  to 
himself  and  his  country.  Prior  to  his  appointment  as 
Minister  to  Liberia,  he  was  the  worthy  Principal  of 
the  Fayetteville,  N.  C.,  Normal  School.  He  is  a  grad 
uate  of  the  famous  Shaw  University,  and  destined 
to  reflect  still  greater  honors  on  this  his  Alma  Mater. 
Rev.  J,  C.  Price,  D.D.,  the  well-known  temper 
ance  orator,  lives  in  the  hearts  of  many  people.  His 
clear  and  distinct  voice,  fascinating  manner  and  ex 
cellent  ability  to  handle  a  story,  gives  him  a  hearty 
welcome  in  every  place  to  which  he  goes.  He  was 
the  first  colored  preacher  to  stand  in  the  pulpit  of 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  and  now  with  the  sympathy 
and  love  of  a  parent  for  his  pupils,  he  with  honor 
holds  the  position  of  President  of  Livingston  Col 
lege,  North  Carolina.  He  is  a  native  of  North. 
Carolina. 


NEGRO  RACE  AV  AMERICA. 


179 


H.§§£< 

d 


H3L_    ..-^4-.:  ,;;j«l® 

J.  C.  Price. 
EDMONIA    LEWIS. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  by  the  diligent  use  of 
the  powers  God  gave  her,  has  done  much  to  de 
monstrate  to  the  world  what  genius  exists  in  the  race 
she  represents.  Left  an  orphan  in  early  life,  she 
was  not  educated  according  to  her  desire,  but  was 


1 80  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

conscious  of  a  power  and  a  burning  zeal  to  make 
herself  felt  in  the  world. 

Her  first  visit  to  Boston  proved  the  turning  point 
in  her  life.  When  she  for  the  first  time  saw  the 
statue  of  Franklin  her  soul  was  touched.  While 
the  dull  stone  seemed  cold  to  others,  there  was  a 
chord  in  her  young  soul  which  the  cold  lineaments 
played  upon,  and  she  exclaimed  exultingly,  "  I  can 
make  a  stone  man/'  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison,  always 
ready  to  help  the  race,  introduced  her  to  a  leading 
Boston  sculptor.  He  gave  her  some  clay  and  a 
model  of  a  human  foot,  saying,  "  Go  home  and  make 
that;  if  there  is  anything  in  you  it  will  come  out/' 
Her  first  effort  was  brought  back  to  the  teacher, 
who  examined  it,  then  broke  it  to  pieces,  telling  her 
to  try  again.  She  did  so,  and  succeeded.  Her 
achievements  since  have  placed  her  among  the 
prominent  artists  of  the  world.  She  now  resides  at 
Rome,  where  her  studio  is  the  famed  resort  of  art- 
lovers  the  world  over.  Some  of  her  works  are, 
busts  of  Charles  Sumner,  Lincoln,  Hiawatha's  Woo 
ing,  Forever  Free,  Hagar  in  the  Wilderness,  Ma 
donna  with  Infant  Christ,  and  two  Adoring  Angels. 
She  was  patronized  by  the  leading  Englishmen,  such 
as  Disraeli,  and  others. 

T.  T.  Fortune,  Esq.,  the  well-known  and  fear 
less  editor,  was  also  a  slave,  born  of  slave  parents, 
in  Florida.  He  is  a  deep  thinker,  and  an  enthusiastic 


XEGRO  RA CE  IX  A M ERICA.  181 

and  true  worker  for  his  race.  A  great  agitator  and 
denouncer  of  the  wrong  and  encourager  of  the  right ; 
also  an  author  and  pamphleteer. 

Rev.  W.  J.  Simmons,  A.M.,  D.D.,  was,  be 
yond  question,  one  of  the  strongest  characters  of 
the  race.  lie  was  the  President  of  the  Normal  and 
Theological  Institute  at  Louisville,  Ky.  At  one  time 
he  was  editor  of  the  American  Baptist,  and  did  a 
.  telling  work  in  that  position  by  his  strong  editorials 
and  telling  points  in  behalf  of  the  interests  of  the 
race.  But  Rev.  Simmons  is  better  known  as  an 
educator.  He  took  charge  of  the  Institute  at  Louis 
ville  when  nothing  but  failure  seemed  to  stare  it  in 
the  face;  and  from  an  appearance  of  hopeless  ruin 
he  has  worked  it  up  to  a  point  of  great  excellency. 
It  now  stands  as  one  of  the  most  important  factors 
of  Negro  education  in  the  South,  and  its  success  is 
due  to  the  indomitable  energy,  force,  and  brain  of 
Dr.  Simmons.  He  has  also  furnished  the  literature 
of  the  race  with  a  valuable  work  known  as  "  Men 
of  Mark."  In  it  you  will  be  pleased  to  read  elegant 
sketches  of  many  of  the  race's  best  men. 

The  Hon.  H.  P.  Cheatham  is  a  son  of  Shaw 
University,  and  a  young  man  whose  success  is  due 
to  emancipation.  He  is  now  one  of  the  colored 
members  of  our  National  Congress,  having  won  his 
seat  through  a  most  desperate  contest  for  the  Second 
District  of  North  Carolina.  His  record  in  Congress 


182 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


is  good;  not  so  much  known,  however,  for  his  "  much 
speaking,"  as  for  the  devotion  he  shows  to  the  in 
terests  of  his  race.  Mr.  Cheatham  came  up  from 
the  ranks  of  the  school  teachers,  leaving  off  that 
work  to  take  a  position  as  Register  of  Deeds  in  his 
(Vance)  county,  which  position  he  held  creditably 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  which  he  resigned  to 
run  for  Congress  in  1888. 


Jib 

IP        it 

v- 


John  R.  Lynch. 


Hon.  John  R.  Lynch  is  another  son  of  whom  we 
may  be  proud.  He  hid  not  his  talents,  but  rather 
multiplied  them.  It  was  his  honor  to  preside  at  the 
National  Republican  Convention  in  1884,  at  Chicago. 


XEGRO  RACE  IX  AMERICA.  183 


We  know  him  as  orator,  lawyer,  Congressman  and 
prominent  politician. 

Among  the  Noted  Singers  should  be  mentioned 
Madame  Selika,  "  the  colored  Jenny  Lind."  Her 
voice  is,  perhaps,  sweeter  than  the  renowned  Jenny 
Lind  (white),  and  capable  of  greater  variation  in 
length  and  pitch,  Madame  Selika  stands  as  a 
prodigy  among  singers.  She  would  stand  near  the 
head  of  modern  female  voices  were  it  not  that  she 
is  colored. 

Mrs.  Frances  Ellen  Harper,  a  native  of  Bal 
timore,  Maryland,  was  denied  the  opportunities  of 
an  education  in  her  early  days,  but  as  soon  as  the 
way  was  opened  she  applied  herself  with  such  en 
ergy  and  earnestness  as  to  develop  her  rare  intel 
lectual  abilities,  and  put  her  before  the  world  as  a 
grand,  good  woman.  She  is  known  as  an  enter 
taining  lecturer  and  pleasing  essayist. 

Miss  Flora  Batson  Bergen  is  another  repre 
sentative  of  the  art  of  song.  The  wonder  is  that 
she  renders  the  most  difficult  classical  music  from 
memory,  being  unable  to  read  notes.  She  is  an 
undoubted  genius. 

Miss  H.  Q.  Brown  stands  high  as  an  elocu 
tionist,  and  reader  of  wonderful  force  and  descrip 
tive  powers.  Her  work  compares  favorably  with 
any  of  the  kind  in  America,  and  her  reputation  is 
national. 


184 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


Miss  Ednorah  Nahar,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  has 
achieved  wonderful  results  as  a  reader  and  elocu 
tionist.  She  is  yet  young  in  the  work,  but  has  read 
in  nearly  all  of  the  leading  cities  in  America  and 
Canada,  and  received  the  highest  encomiums  from 
the  best  dramatical  critics  in  both  countries,  one  of 
whom  says ;  "  Her  art  is  no  art,  but  Nature  itself/' 


«j  -^/A^s 

5p  7/X_ 

f    « 


* 


Blind  Tom. 


"  Blind  Torn,"  the  Negro  Musical  Prodigy, 
is  known  as  well  in  Europe  as  America.  His  cor 
rect  name  is  Thomas  Bethune.  He  was  born  May 


NEGRO  RACE  L\  AMERICA.  185 


25,  1849,  at  Columbus,  Georgia.  When  a  babe  be 
seemed  totally  blind,  but  in  later  years  he  could  see 
a  little.  His  memory  of  dates,  persons  and  places 
seems  almost  perfect.  Shake  his  hand  to-day  and 
speak  to  him,  tell  your  name,  and  ten  years  after  he 
will  recall  your  voice  and  name.  He  is  uniformly 
and  studiously  polite,  and  entertains  the  highest  re 
gard  for  truth  in  all  things.  At  four  years  of  age 
he  found  his  way  to  his  master's  piano  for  the  first 
time.  He  had  attempted  to  use  his  voice  in  imitat 
ing  the  piano  and  other  sounds  before  this.  He 
imitated  all  the  sounds  he  knew  on  the  piano,  and 
when  his  supply  was  exhausted  he  began  to  com 
pose  for  himself.  He  would  play,  as  he  would  re 
mark,  "  what  the  wind  said"  or  the  "  birds  said''  or 
the  "trees  said."  When  five  years  old,  during  a 
thunder-storm,  he  composed  his  ''Rain  Storm" 
which  is  so  true  to  Nature  that  one  imagines  on 
hearing  it  that  he  can  hear  the  thunder  roar,  and 
"  looks  for  the  lightning  to  flash."  One  author  says 
of  him :  "  I  can't  teach  him  anything ;  he  knows 
more  of  music  than  we  know  or  can  know.  We 
can  learn  ^11  that  great  genius  can  reduce  to  rule 
and  put  in  tangible  form  ;  he  knows  more  than  that. 
I  do  not  even  know  what  it  is ;  but  I  feel  it  is  some 
thing  beyond  my  comprehension.  All  that  can  be 
done  for  him  will  be  to  let  him  hear  fine  playing ; 
he  will  work  it  all  out  for  himself  after  awhile." 


186  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

He  plays  the  most  difficult  classical  music  of 
Mendelssohn  and  Beethoven,  and  cannot  read  a 
note.  His  marches  include  "  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon," 
by  Peace;  "Grand  March  de  Concert/1  by  Wallace. 
He  imitates  as  perfectly  as  if  natural,  "  Battle  of 
Manassas,"  "  Douglass*  Speech,"  guitar,  banjo, 
church  organ,  Dutch  woman  and  hand-organ,  a 
harp,  Scotch  bagpipe,  and  a  music-box — all  on  the 
piano.  His  equal,  if  it  ever  existed  in  the  world, 
has  not  been  known.  He  stands  out  as  a  phenom 
enon,  a  genius,  a  prodigy  in  black.  He  still  lives, 
and  is  constantly  improving  and  adding  to  his  large  . 
stock  of  musical  achievements. 

Toussaint  L'Ouverture. — It  is  supposed  that 
L'Ouverture  was  born  in  1743,  in  San  Domingo,  on 
11  All  Saints'  Day,"  from  which  he  was  named  Tous 
saint.  The  name  L'Ouverture  was  given  him  after 
he  had  won  a  high  place  in  the  army  by  many  bril 
liant  conquests.  He  was  born  a  slave,  and  said  to 
be  a  direct  descendant  of  an  African  king.  He  was 
educated  by  his  god-father,  Pierre  Baptiste.  Later 
he  had  an  interesting  family,  and  was  as  happy  as  a 
slave  could  be.  He  believed  himself  destined  to 
lead  his  race  out  of  bondage.  Having  access  to  his 
master's  library,  he  read  much ;  and  it  is  recorded 
that  he  always  mastered  whatever  work  he  under 
took  to  study.  It  is  generally  conceded  by  his  ene 
mies  that  he  was  honest,  honorable,  and  just,  On 


XEGXO  RACE  J.V  AMERICA. 


187 


the  night  of  August  21,  1791,  the  revolution  which 
was  destined  to  free  the  blacks  of  Hayti  began.  It 
was,  really,  the  culmination  of  a  series  of  political 


: 


*# 


- 

•    :'•;'. 


&  '   ./  '  •.:•>• 
'•    .. 

..'• 

- 

- 

.-  -  . 


•  : 


Toussaint  L'Ouverture. 
"  Soldier— Statesman— Martyr."—  Wendtll  Phillips. 

struggles  which  had  been  waged  with  fury  between 
the  government  of  France,  the  white  planters,  and 
the  mulattoes  who  thought  that  they  were  entitled  to 


188  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  TllE 

equal  political  privileges  with  the  whites.  This  point 
was  bitterly  contested  by  the  whites  of  the  colony, 
until  the  mulattocs  succeeded  in  inciting  the  blacks 
to  murder  and  pillage.  Toussaint  took  no  part  in 
the  murderous  proceedings  of  this  night,  and  did 
not  leave  the  plantation  until  he  had  safely  provided 
for  all  the  whites  thereon,  whom  he  afterwards  had 
conveyed  to  Baltimore.  He  was  always  opposed  to 
a  general  massacre  of  the  whites,  and  throughout 
his  career,  as  a  commander,  exerted  his  influence 
to  preserve  their  lives.  Upon  entering  military  life 
his  promotion  was  rapid,  as  he  possessed  all  the 
requisites  of  a  great -commander  and  leader.  Hav 
ing  risen  to  a  generalship,  because  of  his  many  suc 
cesses,  France  acknowledged  his  rank  and  tendered 
to  him  a  commission  as  commandcr-in-chief  of  the 
armies  of  San  Domingo,  in  1797.  There  followed 
three  years  of  unparalleled  prosperity,  during  which 
time  L'Ouverture's  ability  as  a  statesman  and  ruler 
was  shown  to  great  advantage.  Napoleon,  how 
ever,  became  jealous  of  L'Ouverture's  power,  and  the 
old  troubles  in  Hayti  being  renewed,  they  declared 
their  independence  in  1801.  Napoleon  sent  large 
armies  to  the  island,  but  they  all  failed  to  conquer 
the  brave  band  of  blacks  under  their  indomitable 
leader,  Toussaint.  Finally,  they  resorted  to  strata- 
g'om.  They  pretended  to  make  peace,  after  which 
Toussaint  was  invited  on  one  occasion  to  dine  on 


NEGRO  RACE  IY  AMERICA.  189 

board  a  French  man-of-war,  and  there  he  was  cap 
tured,  sent  to  France,  confined  in  a  dark,  clamp  dun 
geon,  and  allowed  to  die  of  hunger.  He  died  in 
1803,  heroically  proclaiming  that  though  the  French 
might  murder  him,  the  tree  of  liberty  would  still 
grow  in  San  Donv'ngo ;  how  unlike  Napoleon,  the 
author  of  Toussaint's  torture,  who  ended  his  exist 
ence  -in  writing  and  fretting  on  the  island  of  St. 
Helena,  in  similar  confinement,  a  just  retribution,  it 
seems,  in  atonement  for  the  wrong  he  had  done 
L'Ouverture ! 

"  His  life  lay  in  thought  and  in  action  rather  than 
in  words.  Self-contained,  he  was  also  self-sufficing. 
Though  he  disdained  not  the  advice  of  others,  he 
was,  in  the  main,  his  own  council-board.  With  an 
intense  concentration  of  vitality  in  his  own  soul,  he 
threw  into  his  outer  life  a  power  and  an  energy 
which  armed  one  man  with  the  power  of  thousands,, 
and  made  him  great  alike  in  command  of  others 
and  in  command  of  himself.  He  was  created  for 
government  by  the  hand  of  nature.  That  strength 
of  soul  and  self  reliance  which  made  him  fit  to  rule, 
also  gave  him  subjects  for  his  sway.  Hence  it  was, 
that  he  could  not  remain  in  the  herd  of  his  fellow- 
slaves.  Rise  he  must,  and  rise  he  did;  first  to 
humble  offices,  then  to  the  command  of  a  regiment, 
and  then  to  the  command  of  the  armies  of  San  Do 
mingo/1 


190  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE  FREE  PEOPLE  OF  COLOR  IN  NORTH 
CAROLINA. 

HY   THE    HON.    JOHN    S.    LEARY. 

/ 

IN  the  Revolutionary  War  there  were  enlisted  as 
soldiers  in  the  American  army  quite  a  number  of 
colored  men  who  served  faithfully  and  fought  gal 
lantly  for  the  cause  of  American  Independence. 
Among  others  who  enlisted  from  North  Carolina, 
were  Louie  Revels,  John  Lomax,  Thomas  Bell, 
Charles  Hood  and  John  Pettiford.  All  of  these  sur 
viving  the  contest  drew,  as  long  as  they  lived,  a 
pension  from  the  United  States  Government.  When 
the  Congress  of  freemen  (freeholders]  assembled  at 
Halifax,  and  on  the  iSth  day  of  December,  1776, 
ratified  a  Constitution  for  North  Carolina,  the  elec 
tive  franchise  was  extended  to  every  freeman  resid 
ing  in  the  State  who  was  twenty-one  years  of  age 
and  had  paid  a  public  tax.  Under  the  provisions  of 
this  Constitution  all  free  colored  persons  living  in 
North  Carolina  who  were  twenty-one  years  of  age 
and  had  paid  a  public  tax,  claimed  and  exercised  the 


NEGRO  RA  CE  IN  A  ME  RICA .  191 


right  to  vote  until  the  year  1835,  a  period  of  more 
than  a  half  century,  when  the  Convention  which  • 
assembled  that  year,  acting  on  the  principle  that 
might  makes  right,  adopted  an  amended  Constitu 
tion  which  barred  them  of  that  right.  Having  been 
barred  of  the  right  to  vote  by  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  of  1835,  in  the  year  1838  the  question 
as  to  whether  they  were  or  were  not  citizens  coming 
before  the  State  Supreme  Court,  the  following  ex 
tract  .from  the  opinion  .of  the  Court,  delivered  by 
Gaston,  Judge,  will  show  that  the  Court  decided 
that  they  were  citizens  : 

"Whatever  distinctions  may  have  existed  in  the 
Roman  law  between  citizens  and  free  inhabitants, 
they  are  unknown  to  our  institutions.  Before  our 
Revolution,  all  free  persons  born  within  the  domin 
ion  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  whatever  their 
color  or  complexion,  were  native-born  British  sub 
jects — those  born  out  of  his  allegiance  were  aliens. 
Slavery  did  not  exist  in  England,  but  it  did  exist  in 
the  British  Colonies.  Slaves  were  not,  in  legal  par 
lance,  persons,  but  property.  The  moment  the  in 
capacity — or  disqualification — of  slavery  was  re 
moved,  they  became  persons,  and  were  then  either 
British  subjects  or  not  British  subjects  according  as 
they  were  or  were  not  born  within  the  allegiance  of 
the  British  King.  Upon  the  close  of  the  Revolution, 
no  other  change  took  place  in  the  law  of  North 


192  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 


Carolina  than  was  consequent  upon  the  transition 
from  a  colony  dependent  on  a  European  king  to  a 
free  and  sovereign  State.  Slaves  remained  slaves. 
British  subjects  in  North  Carolina  became  North 
Carolina  freemen.  Foreigners,  until  made  citizens 
of  the  State,  continued  aliens.  Slaves  manumitted 
here  became  freemen — and,  therefore,  if  born  within 
North  Carolina,  are  citizens  of  North  Carolina — 
and  all  free  persons  born  within  the  State  are  born 
citizens  of  the  State." 

However,  under  the  provisions  of  the  amended 
Constitution,  and  the  laws  enacted  subsequent  to 
its  ratification  by  the  Legislature,  there  existed  in 
North  Carolina,  prior  to  the  year  1865,  three  dis 
tinct  classes  of  people:  The  free  white  man,  enjoy 
ing  and  exercising  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
an  American  citizen  ;  the  free  colored  man,  deprived 
of  nearly  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  an  Amer 
ican  citizen  ;  and,  the  colored  slave,  who,  in  legal 
parlance,  was  a  mere  chattel.  Owing  to  this  anoma 
lous  state  of  affairs,  whatever  was  accomplished 
by  the  genius,  industry,  effort,  culture,  and  literary 
attainments  of  the  colored  American  residing  in  the 
State,  was  studiously  ignored  and  cast  aside  as  not 
worthy  to  be  recorded  as  a  part  and  parcel  of  the 
history  of  the  people  of  the  State. 

To  preserve  the  mcMnory,  as  well  as  to  perpet 
uate  the  work  and  worth  of  a  very  eminent  colored 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA.  193 


citizen  of  North  Carolina,  I  here  present  for  the  in 
formation  of  the  youths,  and  all  other  persons  who 
do  not  know  anything  of  the  history  of  his  life,  a 
biographical  narrative  of  the  Rev.  John  Chavers. 
This  gentleman,  a  regularly  ordained  minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  came  to  the  United  States  in 
the  year  1822.  He  settled  in  North  Carolina,  and 
after  remaining  here  for  the  period  of  time  required 
by  law,  was  naturalized  and  became  a  citizen  of  the 
State  and  United  States.  In  culture  and  literary 
attainments  he  far  excelled  a  majority  of  all  classes 
of  the  people  living  in  the  State  at  that  day  and 
date,  A  Christian  gentleman,  possessing  all  the 
qualities  which  go  to  make  a  true  and  noble  man, 
he  was  honored  for  his  eminent  ability,  and  respected 
for  his  Christian  character.  He  lived  in  the  town 
of  Fayetteville  for  a  period  of  two  years,  preached 
and  taught  school.  He  removed  from  Fayetteville, 
and  afterwards  lived  respectively  in  the  counties 
of  Franklin,  Wake,  and  Chatham,  in  each  of  which 
he  preached  and  taught  school.  The  school  organ 
ized  and  taught  by  him  in  Chatham  County  was 
patronized  almost  exclusively  by  the  white  people. 
In  the  light  of  present  surroundings,  it  may  seem 
strange  and  incredulous  that  the  white  people  of 
North  Carolina  would  send  their  children  to  a  col 
ored  school  teacher,  and  consent  to  have  their  lives 
and  characters  shaped  and  moulded  by  him,  but 

13 


1 94  A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE 

this  is  accounted  for  in  the  fact  that  the  recorded 
history  of  those  times  goes  to  show  that  classical 
scholars  and  thoroughly  equipped  school  teachers 
were  not  near  so  plentiful  among  the  white  people 
then  as  they  are  now,  and  they  were  not  so  very 
particular  as  to  the  color  of  the  "  Gamaliel "  at 
whose  feet  their  children  should  sit,  provided  he 
had  the  ability  and  learning  to  impart  the  desired  . 
information.  As  evidence  of  this  gentleman's  emi 
nence  as  an  instructor,  and  the  influence  which  his 
precept  and  example  had  upon  the  lives  and  char 
acter  of  his  pupils,  I  mention  the  names  of  a  few 
who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his 
instruction  and  careful  training.  The  late  Honor 
able  Kenneth  Ray  tier,  one  of  his  pupils,  was  well 
known  to  the  people  of  North  Carolina  as  an  emi 
nent  lawyer,  and,  before  the  civil  war,  as  a  repre 
sentative  from  North  Carolina  in  the  United  States 
i  Congress,  and  after  said  war  was  the  able  and  effi 
cient  Solicitor-General  of  the  United  States  Treasury 
under  President  Arthur's  administration.  Mr.  Thos. 
J.  Curtis,  a  successful  business  man,  and  for  several 
years  Mayor  of  the  town  of  Fayetteville,  was  an 
other;  and  yet  another  was  the  late  Honorable 
Abram  Rencher,  of  Chatham  County,  who  was  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  the  State  has  ever 
produced.  There  were  a  great  many  others,  but 
it  is  not  necessary  to  mention  by  name  any  more. 


NEGRO  RACE  /.V  AMERICA.  195 


These  are  enough  to  show  that  if  justice  had  been 
done,  this  illustrious  colored  gentleman  would  have 
had  a  place  in  the  recorded  history  of  the  State 
of  his  adoption  as  one  of  her  earliest,  most  suc 
cessful  educators  and  eminent  men. 


106     A  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  THE  NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

CONCLUSION. 

UP  to  the  present  time  the  Negro  has  been  a 
success  in  every  avenue  of  life.  As  a  soldier  and 
citizen  he  has  always  been  faithful  to  his  coun 
try's  flag;  as  a  politician,  he  has  filled  successfully 
many  honorable  positions,  from  that  of  a  Town  Con 
stable  to  the  Registry  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States;  he  has  been  a  legislator,  a  senator,  a  judge, 
a  lawyer,  a  juror,  a  shrewd  business  man,  and  won 
honor,  respect,  and  confidence  in  every  such  posi 
tion,  and  all  this  in  twenty-five  years,  Every  sort 
of  hindrance  has  been  thrown  in  his  way,  but  he 
is  overcoming  them  all,  and  daily  winning  friends 
from  the  ranks  of  those  most  opposed  to  his  prog 
ress.  Time  is  yet  to  bring  forth  better  things  for 
the  race.  Let  there  be  patience,  and  an  honest, 
persistent  endeavor  to  do  the  very  best  in  every 
thing,  and  ere  long  we  shall  "  reap  if  we  faint  not." 
We  shall  rise,  not  by  dragging  others  down,  but  by 
encouraging  those  who  are  up  to  extend  down  to 
us  the  helping  hand,  which  we  must  quickly  grasp, 
and  by  its  help  lift  ourselves  up. 


INDEX. 


ABOLITIONISM,  growth  of,  80, 81 
Abolitionists,  opposition  to  Northern,  99 

work  of  the,  SO,  81 
African  cities,  ancient,  11, 15 
Africans,  native,  present  condition  of,  11 

racial  traits  or,  11, 18 
Africa- American  Presbyterian,  154 
Allen,  Rev.  Richard,  149 
Almanac,  Banneka's,  36 
Amendment,  Constitutional,  thirteenth, 

138 

fifteenth,  139 
A.  M.  E.  Review,  149 
Amistad  Captives,  the,  95 
Anti-slavery  agitation,  98-110 

books,  83 

conventions,  82 
"  Anti-slavery  Free  Women  of  America," 

Armistead,  James,  71 

Army,  colonial,  slaves  in  the,  57,  58 

compensation  for,  61 

(Sec  SoLMKiix,  TROOPS.) 
Ashmun,  Jehndi,  h8 
Association,  Missionary,  American,  154 
Asylum,  Colored  Orphans',  burning  of, 

115 
Attucks,  Crispus,  patriotism  of,  C3-G5 

BALTIMORE.  J.  D.  (inventor),  164 

Bank,  Frcedraen's  Savings,  162 

Banks,  Genl.,  on  the  conduct  of  Negro 

troops,  113 

Bannckn,  Benjamin,  attainments  of,  35-38 
death  of.  38 
Jefferson's  letter  to,  37 
Robert,  35 
Baptist  Tribune,  150 
Baptists,  colored,  extent  of,  151 

prominent,  151 
Battle  of  Rtill  Run,  103 
of  Bunker's  Hill,  incident  of,  69 
Negro  heroism  at,  66 
Peter  Salem  at,  66 

of  Milliken's  Bend,  Negro  troops  at,  113 
of  New  Orleans,  cotton  breastworks  at 

the,  76 

of  Petersburg,  Negro  troops  at,  122-129 
of  Port  Hudson,  Negro  troops  at,  110-113 
of  the  Wilderness,  Negro  troops  at,  120 
Bergen,  Miss  Flora  B.atson  (singer),  183 
Bethune,  Thomas  ("Blind  Tony'),  183-18G 
Bill,  Civil  Rights.  139, 170 
"  Black  Brigade/' Kinks',  122 


Black,  John  (inventor),  164 

"  Black  Phalanx,"  15ft 

14  Blind  Tom,"  184-186 

Brawley,  Rev.  E.  M.,  149 

Brown,  Miss  H.  Q.  (elocutionist),  183 

John,  insurrection  of,  99 

William  Wells,  172 
Bruce,  Senator  B.  K.,  175 
Bunker  Hill,  incident  of  battle,  69 
Bureau,  Freed  men' s,  design  of,  139, 140 
Burnside,  (Jenl.,  at  Petersburg,  126-128 
Butler.  B.  F.,  opposition  to  Negro  enlist 
ment,  105 


CAI.LIOUX,  Capt.  Andre,  111 

Canaanites,  the,  10,  14,  15 

Carey,  Lott,  88 

Curney,  Sergeant,  heroism  of,  117 

Charlton,  Samuel,  bravery  of,  71 

Chauncey,  Com.,  retort  to  Capt.  Perry,  77 

Chavers,  Rev.  .John,  193 

Choatham,  lion.  H.  P.,  181 

Children,  school,  colored,  number  of,  160 

Christian  Recorder,  149 

Church,  A.  M.  E.,  influence  of,  149 

Zion,  152 
Baptist,  founded,  150 

influence  of  the,  151 
Methodist,  152 
Presbyterian,  154 
Churches,  colored,  property  owned  by, 163 

Southern,  Northern  support  of,  152 
Cinquez,  Joseph,  95 
Cities,  ancient  African,  11, 15 
Civil  Rights  Bill.  !:•>!> 
"  Cockade  City,"  122 
College,  Bennett,  152, 158 
Livingston,  152,  Io8 
Morris  Brown,  148 
Colonies,  slavery  in  the,  beginning  of,  17 

dates  of  introduction,  ,fK> 
Southern,  habits  and  customs  of,  5-1 
Colonists,  Southern,  habits  and  customs, 

53 

Colored  schools  in  the  South.  157-160 
Constitution,  Freemen's,  in  North  Caro 
lina,  190,  191 
Convention,  Anti-Slavery,  National,  82 

of  free  colored  people,  82 
Cotton  plantations,  Georgia,  47 
!  Crandall, Prudence,  Negro  school  of,  31-33 
I  Crater,  the,  at  Petersburg,  126-128 
!  Curtis,  Thomas  J.,  191 

(197) 


198 


ISDEX. 


DABNKY'B  CLOTHES-LINE  telegraph,  131- 

131 
Davis,  Jefferson,  capture  of,  136  n 

John,  bravery  of,  77 
Debnam,  Prof.  W.  F.,  157 
Deeds  of  daring,  Negro,  66-70,  131-134 
Disfranehisement  of  the  Southern  Negro, 

138 

Dismal  Swamp,  slave  property  In,  01 
Dixon,  Rev.  William  T.,  172 
Dodge,  Caleb,  slave  test  suit  of,  26 
Douglass,  Frederick,  biography  of,  X4-87 

writings  of,  83 
Dtvd  Scott  Decision,  99  »i 
Dunmore,  Lord,  enlistment  of  Negroc*  by, 

M 
Dunn'8  house,  Negro  corps  at,  123,  121 

EDUCATION.  Negro,  In  the  South,  1.V»-1ftl 

self-help  in,  of  Southern  Negroes,  l.r»8 
Elliott,  Robert  H.  (orator),  K'.'j 
Emancipation  lor  military  service,  61 

in  Virginia,  72 

of  New  England  slaves,  26,  27 

Proclamations,  107 
Enlistment  (see  SOLDIERS, TROOPS). 
Explosion,  mlue,  at  Petersburg,  12G 

FAMILIES,  Southern,  habits  and  customs, 

63,  54 

Fisk  Jubilee  Singers,  161      . 
Fort,  Blount's,  refugees  in,  48,  49,  60 

Griswold,  Incident  at.  71 

Groton,  incident  at,  70 

Pillow,  Negro  troops  at,  118 

S-umter,  capture  of,  103 

Wagner,  Negro  troops  at,  115 
Forte  n,  James,  81 

Miss  Sarah  (poetess),  82 
Fortune,  T.  T.  (editor),  ISO 
Franchise,  elective  (1776),  in  N.  C.(  190 

(1MX>).  in  N.  C.,  1'JI 
Freed  men'*  Bureau,  design  of,  139, 140 

Savings  Hunk,  NW 
Freedom,  Negro,  efforts  for,  80-97 
Freeman,  John,  heroism  of,  71 
Freemen,  colored,  elective  franchise  of, 

190 

Friends,  the,  opposition  to  slavery,  40 
Fugitive  slave  law.  99 
Fugitives  (see  SLAVES.) 
Fuller,  Thomas,  20 

GAINES,  W.  J.  (bishop),  147 
Garrison.  William  Lloyd.  81, 180 
Gaston.  Judge,  decision  of.  191 
Genius  of  Emancipation,  the,  80 
Government,    Provisional,   first,   at  the 

South, 138 

Grant,  Genl.,  at  Petersburg,  127.128 
Greener,  Prof.  Richard  Theodore,  175 

HABITS  AND  CUSTOMS  of  Southern  colo 
nists,  53 
Hall,  Primus,  incident  of,  67 


Hamilton,  Alexander,  letter  of,  58 
Hancock.  Richard  M.,164 
Harper,  Mrs.  Frances  El!  >n,  183 
Harris,  Sarah,  32 
Heath,  Corporal,  bravery  of,  112 
Heroes,  Negro,  19 
of  1812,  77,78 

of  the  Rebellion,  111,  112, 131 
of  the  Revolution,  63-67 
:  Holbrook,  Felix,  petition  of,  27 
i  Ilorton,  George  M.  (poet),  41 
I  Howard,  Genl.  O.  O.,  140 
Hunter,  Genl.,  enlistment  of  Negroes  bj, 
101 

lNCIHKSTM.Cft-70,  13M3-I 

Institute.  Louisville,  181 

Normal  and  Industrial,  KUtrell's.lM 
Institutions,  Educational,  141,  154,  155, 

157 
Insurrection,  John  Brown's,  99 

Nat.  Turner's,  90-93 

JAMESTOWN,  Negroes  at,  first,  17, 19 
Jeffreys,  Major,  bravery  and  treatment 

of,  78 

.  "Jenny  Lind,"  colored,  183 
j  Johnson,  John,  bravery  of,  77 
Jones,  James  II.,  136 

Wiley,  104 

Journal  of  tJie  Times,  81 
Jubilee  Singers,  Fisk,  161 

KOSCITSKO'S  aid  for  the  education  of  col 
ored  children,  73 
Ku-klux  Klan,  139 

LABOH,  slave,  in  South  Carolina,  44 

La  Fayette,  Genl.,  anti-slavery  ideas  of, 
72,  73 

Langston.  Hon.  J.  Mercer.  167 

Latham,  L.,  bravery  and  death  of,  70, 71 

Laurcns,  Col.,  death  of,  06 
enlistment  of  Negroes  by,  58,  61 

Law,  slave,  fugitive.  99 

Leak,  Rev.  R.  H.  W..  93 

Lee,  Genl.,  surrender  at  Appomattox,  130 

Lewis,  Edmonia  (artist),  179 

Liberator,  the,  81 

Liberia,  colonization  of,  88,  89 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  election  of,  100, 103 
proclamation  for  volunteers  of,  103 
Proclamations,  Emancipation,  107 
opposition  of,  to  colored  troops.  103, 105 
review  of  colored  troops  by,  119 

L'Ouverture,  Toussaint,  186 

Loomis,  Lieut.,  attack  and  capture  of 
Blount's  fort  by,  49-50 

Lundy,  Benjamin  (abolitionist),  JO 

Lynch,  Hon.  John  R.,  182 

MAROONS,  the  Virginia,  94 

Massacre,  Boston,  Crispua  Attucks  at,  63* 

McClellan,  Genl.,  105 


199 


Melodies.  Negro,  146,  161 
Millikcn's  Bend,  negro  troops  at,  113 
Morgan.  C.  G.  (orator),  156 
Music,  Negro,  1  16 

originality  of,  161 
"  My  Bondage  and  My  Free-lorn,"  83 

NAHAR,  Miss  Kdnorah,  184 
Xutirmal  Reformer,  the,  83 
Navy,  Negroes  in  the,  of  1S12,  70 
NEGRO,  the.  freed,  ostrncization  of,  145 
eminent  progress  of,  1% 
origin  of,  9,  10 

writings  on.  quotations  from,  12 
Negro  education  in  the  South,  156-161 
heroes,  19,  63-67,  77,  78,  111,  112, 131 
refugees.  Blount's  Fort,  43 

massacre  of.  51 
soldiers,  conduct  of,  109, 110 
employment  of.  109 
enlistment  of,  103-107 
opposition  to  the,  56 
first  regiment  of,  115 
in  Revolutionary  times.  56 
troops,  at  Petersburg,  122-129 

in  Virginia,  119,  120 
Negroes.  American,  ancestors  of,  9, 18 
Colonial,  enlistment  of,  01,  62 
British,  56,  67 
Hamilton's  letter  on,  58 
objections  to  the.  56,61,  62 
Washington's  letter,  60,  61 
enlistment  of,  war  of  the  Rebellion,  103 

-107 

re-enslavement  of,  after  the  Revolu 
tion,  74 

some  noted,  167-186 
Nelson's  colored  troops  at  Port  Hudson, 

110-113 

New  London,  Conn.,  capture  of,  70 
Noah,  curse  of,  not  divine,  14 

sons  of,  9, 10,  15 
Noble,  Jordan  (veteran  soldier),  78 

PASTORiors,  Francis  Daniel.  40 

Payne.  Rev.  D.  A.  (bishop),  172 

Penn,  William,  40 

Perry ,  Capt/,  retort  of  Com.  Chaunccy  to. 
77 

Petersburg,  attack  of,  Negro  troops  in, 
122-129 

Phelps,  Genl.,104 

Pinchback,  Hon.  P.  B.,175 

Planciancois,  Anselmas,  bravery  of,  111, 
112 

"Planet"  the,  surrender  of,  169 

Plantations,  cotton,  Georgia,  47 

Population,  Negro,  at  the  close  of  the  Re 
bellion,  160;  in  1850,  9S  :  m  I860, 102 ; 
at  the  present  time,  160  . 

Port  Hudson,  Negro  soldiers  at,  110-113 

Presbyterians,  educational  work  of,  15  i 

Price,  Dr.  J.  C.  (orator),  178 

Prince,  at  the  capture  .of  Genl.  Prescott, 
69 


Proclamations,  emancipation,  107 
P,ogre*s  of  Negro  culture,  14J-lt»6 

educational.  156-101 

I'lii.mi'iiil.  162-166 

musical.  16] 

religious,  116-155 

Property-holders,  noted  colored,  163 
I'rophoey,  Noah's,  not  divine,  14 
Pyramids,  the,  9 

QUAKERS,  Penna.,  abolitionism  of,  >-0 

RACK,    colored,    progress   of,  since  free 
dom,  142-1% 

Races,  primitive,  progenitors  of,  9 

Railroad,  underground,  the,  99,  101 

Rayner,  lion.  Kenneth,  191 

Rebellion,  enlistment  of  Negroes,  103-107 
incidents  of,  I3l-i:il 

Reconstruction  of  Southern  States,  138 

Refugees,  Negro,  Georgia.  4H,  61 

Regiment,  first  colored,  115 

Readier.  lion.  Abram.  194 

Revels,  Hon.  Hiram,  167 

Revolution,  American,  Negro  heroes  of, 

63-67 
soldiers  of.  56,  63-67 

Richmond,  siege  and  fall  of,  129,  130 

Riot,  draft,  New  York,  115 
Negro,  in  New  York  (1712),  C!3 
slave  (174S),  in  So.  Carolina,  41 


SAI.KM,  PKTT.II.  bravery  of,  66 
Scarborough,  Prof.  W.  S,,  150,  170 
School,  colored,  first,  in  New  England, 

Normal.  Tu>kegec,17K 
School-children,  colored,  number  of,  160 

-teachers,  colored,  number  of,  K>0 
Schools,  colored,  establishment  of.  Ill 
Southern,  educational  expense,  100 

expenditure  on,  157 
Science  and  art,  noted  Negroes  in,  164 
Selika,  Madame  (singer),  183 
Seminary.  Scotia,  155 
Senator,  U  S.,  first  Negro,  167 
Sewall,  Judge  Samuel.  26 
Simmons,  Rev.  W.  J.  (educator),  181 
|  Singers,  colored,  noted,  183,  134 

Jubilee.  Fisk,  101 
j  Slave  and  master,  affection  between,  143. 

141 

law,  fugitive,  99 
population,  in  1850,  OS 
in  1SGO,  102 

at  the  present  time.  160 
(See  NKtiito.) 

Slavery,  in  Conn.,  introduction  of,  55 
in  Delaware,  40 

introduction  of,  55 
in  Georgia,  46,  47 
in  Jamestown,  Va.,  17 
in  Maryland.  34,  55 
in  Massachusetts,  existence  of,  25,  55 
in  New  Hampshire,  introduction  of,  W 


200 


INDEX. 


Slavery  in  Ne^r  Jersey,  introduction  of,  55 
in  New  York  colony,  23, 55 
in  North  Carolina,  41.  55 
in  Pennsylvania,  40. 55 
in  Rhode  Island,  introduction  of,  55 
in  South  Carolina.  44,  55 
in  Virginia,  introduction  of,  55 
Slaves,  American,  ancestors  of,  18 

condition.  18,  It).  23.  25,  34, 41.  44. 
colonial,  compensation  of  master  for 

enlisted,  61 
emancipation  of,  for  military  service, 

61 
emancipation  of,  in  Mass.,  26 

in  Virginia,  72 

faithfulness  of,  during  civil  war,  136 
freed,  condition  of,  at  close  of  the  Re 
bellion,  141 
fugitive,  W 
enlistment  of,  101 
ut  Hlotiiil'M  Fort,  4S-,V) 
Importation  of,  in  America,  17 
Introduction  of,  17,  Kt 
runaway,  in  ri.  C.,  41 
white,  in  Maryland,  31 
Slaves,  Maryland,  :ll 

New  England,  emancipation  of,  27 
Small,  Hon.  Robert,  168 
Smith,  Genl.,  at  Petersburg,  122, 124, 125 
GoY.  John,  edict  of,  20 
Prof.  E.  K.,  178 
Societies,  anti-slavery,  formation  of,  80 

number  in  1836,  82 
Northern,  for  the  education  of  Southern 

Negroes,  152 

Society,  colonization,  American,  88 
Soldiers,  Negro,  colonial,  compensation 

of,  61 

enlistment  of,  reward,  62,  67, 71,  72 
In  Revolutionary  times.  45,  56 
In  1812,  Jackson's  address  to.  75 
of  the  Rebellion,  conduct  or,  109, 110 
Confederate,  10:1 
first  regiment  of,  115 
.prejudice  to,  10:1 
public  M'littmoiit  ngalntrt,  104-106 

change  of.  117 
SteveiiH1  bill  to  enlist,  105 
Sphinx,  the.  12 

Stnluos,  William,  bravery  of,  134 
Stanton:  encomium  of,  on  Negro  troops, 

StarofZion,  the,  152 

States,  admission  as  free  or  slave,  agita 
tion,  99 
Southern,  reconstruction  of,  138 

Still,  William,  164 

Stowc,  Harriet  Beecher.  83 

Suffrage,  universal,  effect  of  Southern, 
189 

Sumner,  Charles,  98 

TANNER,  HENRY  (artist),  164 
Tampan,  Arthur.  81  •  .' 

Lewis,  97 


Teachers,  colored  school,  number.  160 
Telegraph,   clothes-line,  Dabney'i,  131- 

134 

Terry,  John  W.,  164 
Troops,  Negro,  as  soldier*,  105, 106 

bravery  of,  109-134 

first  regiment  of,  115 

pay  of  the,  106 
Troops.  Negro,  Colonial  (see  SOLDIERS). 

at  Fort  Pillow,  115,  118 

at  Milliken's  Bend,  113 

at  Petersburg,  122-129 

at  Port  Hudson,  110-113 

at  the  Wilderness,  120 

in  Confederate  army,  104, 105, 135 

in  Union  army,  106,  135 

in  Virginia  campaign,  119  • 

(s«'f  AUMY.SOLDIEKS.) 

Tunper,  Dr.  H.  M.,  l.r>8 
Turner,  II.  M.  (bUhop),  174 
Nntimiik'l,  execution  of,  92 
insurrection  of,  IK) 


14  UNCLE  TOM'S  CxBir."  83 
Underground  railroad,  99 

work  of  the,  101 
University,  Alcorn,  167 

Biddle,  154 

Lincoln, 154 

Selma,  150 

Shaw,  138 

Wilberforce,  149 


VIRGINIA  CALCULATOR,  the,  20 


WAR.  civil,  American  (see  REBELLION). 

in  Kansas,  99 

Mexican,  outbreak  of  the,  80 
Of  1812, 74,  78 

enlistment  of  free  Negroes  for,  75 
Negroes  in  the  navy  of,  76 
of  the  Rebellion,  103 
Incidents  of,  131-134 
Revolutionary,  end  of  the,  74 

Negroes  iu  the,  M.  63-67 
Washington,  Prof.  B  T.,  177 
George,  freedom  of  slaves  by,  72 

incidents  of,  67, 68 
Madison,  freedom  of.  94 
Watkins,  Avery  (preacher),  93 

Frances  Ellen,  08,  39 
Wealth  of  colored  people,  163, 164 
Webster.  Daniel,  98 
Welsh,  Molly.  35 

Wheatley,  Pnillis,  culture  of,  27,  28 
death  of.  31 

Washington's  letter  to,  29 
Whltfield,  George.  47  n. 
Williams,  George  W.  (author),  156 

Roger.  150  -  -  - 

Wilson,  Joseph  T.  (author),  156 
\Voods,  Granville  T.  (inventor),  163 


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